


Legends and Heroes

by jtrevizo



Category: Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-08-26
Updated: 2006-08-26
Packaged: 2017-10-23 11:17:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 84,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/249723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jtrevizo/pseuds/jtrevizo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU PRDT. Following the team's discovery of Dr. Oliver's ranger history after his kidnapping, Hayley calls in a few extra comrades in arms to aid the new team in recovering Tommy, leading to some massive changes in everyone's lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sometimes you can’t make it on Your Own

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: PRDT to “Day of the Dino” through “Legacy of Power”. Becomes AU during “Back in Black”, then subsequent retellings of episodes.

“Our teacher is the oldest living power ranger!”

“Not the oldest,” came a voice from behind them, causing the three rangers to spin around.

“Hayley?” Ethan asked in shock.

“Just the best.”

“How did you get in here?” asked Conner.

“More importantly, what do you know about this?” questioned Kira.

“I know Tom is in trouble.”

This confirmed what they were most afraid of. They had the power now, not their mentor and teacher. How was he supposed to escape… or for that matter survive the TyranoDrones, Zeltrax or any of Mesogog’s henchmen?

With that Hayley went on to explain her role in building the dino technology that they were using, and then they moved back to the console. She slipped in the surveillance disk from her café, showing Tommy’s kidnapping at the hands of the TyranoDrones. Following the shocked and outraged comments of the rest of the group about why Tommy hadn’t morphed, they went on through the rest of the video diary, outlining Tommy’s exit from the team and the other incarnations. Finally, when they finished, Kira suggested that they could use the Invisiportals that the TyranoDrones used, and Hayley gave her a smile.

“I’ve been working on the very same idea. I just need more time,” she finished with a tremor in her voice.

“Hayley, you have to figure it out. We have to go in and get him back,” announced Ethan passionately, his fist punching the open palm of his other hand.

“Yeah! Just tell us how to get there and we’ll storm in…” Kira began, looking excited at the idea that they could save their teacher.

“No.”

Her fierce pronouncement prompted the rangers to give Hayley uniform stunned looks. She could tell that they were about to argue, and she needed to cut off any dispute before it even started. Tom might have believed that they were ready, but she knew better. They needed help, and no matter what technical skills she had, she couldn’t replace a Zordon, a Dimetria or even a former greatest ranger of all time.

They needed a ‘real’ ranger. Or two.

“You guys are still green. Yes, you’ve done okay for your first couple times out, but this is serious. If I send the three of you into the lion’s den without backup, someone that can provide you some guidance, not only would Tom be gone, but the three of you could get caught as well, and Mesogog gets the dino gems. You need help…” she related calmly but firmly.

“Like who?” queried Conner suspiciously.

As if on cue, the back door to the cave slid open, the slab of rock moving to reveal two people. The first was a man, stocky but toned, his dark hair cut close to his head and wearing a brown bomber style leather jacket, black t-shirt and blue jeans. The other was a shorter woman, slim but athletic, her long brown hair tied up in a swinging ponytail, sporting black jeans and jade colored blouse covered by a black leather biker jacket.

“Whoa! Where did you guys come from?” Ethan asked, surprised to see civilians just walking into the command center.

“And how did you get in here?” questioned Conner, his arms swinging into a defensive position as he prepared for a fight.

Kira followed Conner’s lead, but continued to give the newcomers a puzzled stare; something about them was making her feel like she was having a case of déjà vu. “You look familiar…”

“They should. You just saw them on Tom’s diary,” explained Hayley simply, nodding in greeting to the new arrivals that looked slightly worse for wear. Considering how quickly they had gotten here since she had called them just a few hours before, she wasn’t surprised.

“You’re rangers!” exclaimed all three of the teens, making the adults in the room wince.

“Former rangers,” stated the man thickly.

“Actually, I was hoping that you would be willing to change that,” Hayley said tensely, her heart in her throat as she now had to get them to go through with the hasty plan b that she’d concocted once she knew for sure that Tom had been kidnapped by Mesogog’s goons.

“What do you mean? And where’s Tommy? I thought you said he was in trouble,” questioned the slight brunette, her hands clenching at her sides in what the teens thought seemed like fear and concern.

“He’s been captured, by Mesogog,” Hayley explained, and the two visitor rangers’ eyes widened, and the woman reached over to catch the man’s hand in hers. “Connor, Kira and Ethan want to go in after him, but I can’t send them alone…”

“Hayley, you know that the dino powers are gone, and the ninja coins are lost with Zordon,” the dark haired man said regretfully. “What do you expect us to do?”

Smiling, Hayley got up from her spot at the console. In her hands she had a bag, and she dug into it to pull out something. The new rangers watched her intently, starting to realize what she might have in there.

“Take up the mantle again,” she said, opening her hand to show two stones, one white, one purple.

The two former rangers looked at each other in wonder. If she was offering what they thought she was…

“Okay, hold on a sec. How about an introduction before we add new team members?” Ethan spoke up, his hand jutting in the air as if to ask a question of a teacher.

“Sorry, my bad. Ethan James, blue ranger, Conner McKnight, red ranger and Kira Ford, yellow ranger, let me introduce you to Jason Scott, the first red ranger and Kimberly Hart, the first pink ranger.”

“Oh, wow… you guys were the first… and you were rangers with Dr. O,” whispered Kira, stunned.

“And that’s why you came, to help your former team mate,” Conner stated with admiration.

“Exactly,” said Jason, his grim smile making the others feel like he really meant what he said, and would do what it took to get Dr. O back.

“And these gems will give you the power to do that,” reminded Hayley, her hand still holding the gems outstretched before them.

“What happens after we get him back?” Jason asked, curious what his bro would have to say about him and Kim joining ‘his’ team.

“You can decide that with him and the others afterwards. For now, if the gems accept you, then you’re rangers again,” Hayley stated, her eyes urging the two former rangers to accept this new role.

“And if they don’t?” wondered Kim aloud.

“Let’s worry about that if it doesn’t work.”

With that, Jason and Kim turned back to the two gems and Jason stifled a laugh, making Kim swivel her head to look at him in question.

“I was always jealous that Tommy got to wear white.”

“You never had to wash all those white jeans,” she retorted, and he simply shrugged.

“You okay with purple?” he questioned sympathetically, knowing that not wearing pink might be a sore spot with Kim, considering the sacrifice of her powers, coin and uniform to Kat all those years ago.

“Yeah. I’m glad it’s not pink… I don’t think that would be a really good idea, considering.”

Jason looked at Kim and gave her a knowing frown. Maybe this was just the thing to force them into resolving that old issue…

Finally with a nod to one another, Kim and Jason reached forward to take up their gem from Hayley’s hand. Jason clutched the white gem tightly, his eyes closing as he felt the tendrils of power begin to spin around him. Kimberly took the amethyst colored gem, folding it between both palms.

In moments, the light from their gems surrounded them completely, and then disappeared in a blight flash, making the other rangers and Hayley turn away and shield their eyes.

“Well, I guess that takes care of the question of if you can go back,” said Hayley as she turned quickly to snatch up two morphers she had on the workbench. “You’ll need these now.”

Taking the morphers, the two old yet new rangers strapped them on with efficiency. With deep breaths, the two pressed the buttons on their morphers, their thoughts leading them back to older days…

“White ranger, power up!”

“Purple ranger, power up!”

With a series of bright lights and a rush of wind, two newly minted rangers stood in the room. Kim stood in a near match to Kira’s uniform, except for minor differences in the helmet, and the fact that the color was a vibrant shade of violet.

Beside her though, Jason’s uniform was more than different. Black stripes lined his uniform where the diamonds appeared on the others. Just like Tommy’s way back when, the white ranger uniform continued to follow its own path, and didn’t conform to the team uniform.

“Wow,” murmured Kim as she looked at Jason, then glanced at herself in her new uniform and new color. Around them, she saw the wide eyed astonishment of Kira, Ethan and Conner, and wondered if they even realized that they looked nearly the same as she and Jason did when they morphed.

“Well, now that this is done, let’s go get Tommy,” Jason said behind his helmet, the confidence evident in his voice.

“Good. It just so happens that while you were morphing, I came up with a theory. You’ll need to get up to a speed of 536 mph to make it past the security wall…” began Hayley, moving quickly to start calculations at the console.

Everyone hurriedly moved to huddle around her as they began planning the rescue of the man who was their friend, mentor and in one person’s case, former flame.

-x-

After Mesogog sent Elsa and Zeltrax to get the team, Tommy again struggled against the straps holding his body to the metal chair in the center of what seemed to be Mesogog’s main lab.

He knew that the lab was most likely in the heart of the complex, meaning it would be the most well guarded room in the place. Which meant he had three options; 1, help Mesogog, which wasn’t even a consideration; 2, escape, which wasn’t looking very hopeful; or 3, wait for the rescue, which he knew was the most likely thing. This worried him the most.

While his new recruits had done well in their first couple encounters with the TyranoDrones, he wasn’t sure they were up to either a covert rescue mission or an all out attack. Either way, he was afraid that their inexperience would get them captured along with him, no matter what he’d said in his video diary. Conner needed more time to get up to speed, and Tommy didn’t have that time to spare.

What he needed was a miracle.

Looking around, his eyes landed back on the chunk of rock that held a new mystery. A black gem stone that from Mesogog’s own mouth was supposedly a power source, that he guessed was another dino gem. He and Hayley had been looking for weeks for more stones, and now one magically surfaced when he could really use it the most.

Except it was across the room, still encased in what looked to be clear acrylic or even pale amber.

If he could just get loose, and somehow break it open… maybe…

Twisting in his restraints again, he stared at Mesogog, who grinned evilly at him.

Was that really how every bad guy looked when they thought they’d won, he thought to himself before all hell broke loose. An alarm sounded through the complex, startling everyone.

“It seems we have visitors,” hissed Mesogog.

“I’m going to take a guess that it’s for you,” quipped Tommy with a smirk.

“There’s that wit again. If I had a sense of humor, I might enjoy it,” spat Mesogog before turning to the TyranoDrones surrounding them. “I’ll handle the intruders myself.”

With that Mesogog quickly exited the room, leaving Tommy with the half dozen TyranoDrones, who sort of milled around, confused. He’d hoped that Mesogog would take them with him, so maybe he could try breaking free.

Then he found himself surprised again as the door behind him blew open and rangers poured in, engaged in battle with TyranoDrones from outside, and within. Three rangers he recognized as his students. But the two rangers with them were new. He watched avidly as a white and a purple ranger waded through the chaos with accuracy and confidence, analyzing them as they moved and fought and figured out something startling.

They had experience.

And the longer he watched them; he realized that the way they moved looked familiar, as did their forms… Too familiar.

He violently shook his head to clear it. Maybe he was seeing things. Maybe instead of being rescued, Mesogog had found a new game to play with him, to get him to reveal the secret of the gems. Tommy opened his eyes again to see the white ranger make his way to his side and grasp his shoulder.

“Come on bro, we gotta get outta here,” said the white ranger in a voice that stunned Tommy into silence as the white gloves pulled open his restraints.

“Hurry!” called out Kira from the doorway as she let out a terra scream towards the oncoming TyranoDrones.

“Hold on, I’ve got to get this,” Tommy informed the white ranger as he shoved his way up from the chair and lurched towards the rock at the other side of the room. “Get them out of here.”

“Leave it! We came for you.”

“And I’ll be along in a second. Come on, trust me bro,” he said, watching the white ranger tilt his head slightly before nodding.

Just like he used to, when he wore red, he thought. With that small acknowledgement, Tommy knew that he’d been right. And if he was correct in his guess about Jase, that meant…

“Bad guys coming!” yelled a new but old voice from beside Conner that ran a chill through Tommy’s bones, and he shrugged it off as impossible delirium.

“Go!” yelled Tommy again, shoving his friend towards the door as he rushed to the block of rock with the gem stone Mesagog wanted and tucked it under his arm. He landed a spin kick on a TyranoDrone between him and the portal, and then leapt, following his friends and his team.

They all arrived before him in the downtown, and they turned looking for him.

“Where is he?” yelled Conner.

Then suddenly Tommy appeared, landing in a crouch in front of them, leading to a cheer from the teens, and a sigh of relief from Kim and Jason. Their happiness was short lived, as Elsa appeared out of the same portal with Zeltrax, a group of TyranoDrones and a monster that they’d briefly clashed with on the island fortress. Tommy turned around to face Elsa and Zeltrax, the rock in his hands.

Flinging his sword forth, Zeltrax send out a beam of electrical energy towards Tommy, which he quickly blocked with the stone. As the power being sent at him increased, Tommy fought to keep the rock holding the power gem between him and the beam, lest he end up injured or worse…

But the power of the beam was too much, and Tommy felt himself being thrown into the air, the stone going with him. To everyone else, they watched as he flew backwards, and a bright flash blinded them all. When it dissipated, they were shocked.

The stone casing lay shattered on the ground, and there was no sign of Tommy.

“Dr. Oliver!” cried out Ethan.

“Tommy!” screamed Kim, beginning to move forward towards the people who had killed…

“No! This can’t be happening,” said Kira in astonishment.

“Haven’t you leaned anything about our world? Nothing is impossible,” stated Elsa with a smug look.

“Even the destruction of the great Dr. Tommy Oliver,” cackled Zeltrax.

Then from thin air, a voice rang out, surprising everyone.

“I heard my name?” said Tommy, appearing from out of nowhere. “You missed me, didn’t you Zeltrax.”

The team rushed to his side, Connor reaching for Dr. O’s hand.

“What’s that?”

“A black dino gem!” Ethan exclaimed.

“That gem belongs to my master,” called out Elsa from where she stood, ready to attack.

“There’s two things you need to learn about dino gems. One is that you don’t chose them, they chose you,” said Tommy.

“And the other?”

“They go really well with dino morphers.”

At that, Tommy slid down his sleeve, revealing a morpher attached to his wrist. With one swift move, he slammed the gem into the morpher, blending the stone with the device.

“Aren’t you a little old for this Tommy,” spat out Elsa, and beside him, Kim and Jason struggled not to laugh.

“I may be old, but I can still pull it off,” he replied with a smirk as he produced a key for his morpher. “Dino Thunder, power up!”

With a flash of light and a rush of wind, Tommy was gone, and in his place stood a black ranger, helmet and uniform gleaming in the sunlight.

“Just like riding a bike.”

“One more makes no difference. Attack!” cried Zeltrax, sending his troops into battle.

But in a way, it did matter. Because with three legends and three new heroes, the odds were totally in their favor.

-x-

The battle over, the new black ranger stood in the center of the command center with the woman who had helped him more over the last six years than he could count. He had powered down from his uniform and fought to keep down the anger and astonishment he felt at the return of his best friend and his ex-girlfriend to his life and their sudden appearance as dino thunder rangers. Gritting his teeth, he counted to ten before he issued one word.

“How?”

“I discovered the white and purple dino gems just at the same time the black gem was located by Mesagog. He was focused on you and it, so I was able to gather them up.”

Tommy sighed and rubbed his head as a massive headache threatened to overtake him. This was all too much in too short a period of time. The torture under Mesogog, his new powers and on top of that Jase and Kim… But he couldn’t just put this off, he still had questions that he needed the answers for. Even if he really didn’t want to know them.

“Why them…”

“I needed someone that could help Conner lead, someone that had experience,” Hayley said calmly, speaking to her former college friend as if he was a five year old.

“And you called Jason, that I get,” Tommy said, pacing the command center, his eyes fighting not to glance upstairs where she had gone with Jason. “But Kim?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. Why don’t you ask her?”

“No.”

“Fine then. Jason’s upstairs. Ask him.”

He stared at Hayley for long heartbeats before he realized that the redhead wasn’t going to back down. With a sigh, he headed for the stairs leading to the trap door, and with leaden feet trudged up the stairs. As he emerged, he looked through the kitchen doorway to see the living room empty save for his best friend since high school. Unbidden, a small smile at the sight of his brother in all but blood appeared on his face, and he made his way up into the kitchen.

“Jase?” he called out, and watched his friend crane his head forward to peer into the kitchen.

“Hey. How you feeling?” asked Jason as Tommy surveyed the area, finding them alone, and he gratefully headed to the couch.

“Better. You know how it is; ranger powers seem to find their way to me,” he commented with weariness in his tone as he flopped onto the couch.

“What else is new. So, we’re both back in the saddle… you okay with that?”

“You, yes. I have to admit that it felt good to be back in uniform, and with you there with me, it’s even better.”

Jason noted the omission, and knew he’d have to call his stubborn friend on it.

“We were worried you’d want us to give them back as soon as you were free,” he said pointedly, staring his friend straight in the eye.

Tommy looked away quickly, knowing that what could be seen in his eyes would only fuel Jason’s defensiveness. Of all the rangers, he was the one that had kept the closest to Kim after the breakup. He never knew exactly how his best friend had kept from mentioning Kim to him over the years, but they had a silent agreement that to stay friends, Kim had to stay an unspoken subject.

However, Jason knew what was in his eyes, his heart anyway. He’d been there for him during it all, if only by phone. But still, the fact was that Jason knew where Tommy’s pain and weaknesses laid.

“She wanted to come.”

“I don’t know why.”

“Because she still cares about you.”

Tommy laughed harshly. “Yeah, like a brother.”

Old wounds were opening up again, and Jase frowned. Why these two couldn’t see what was right in front of them mystified him.

“Look, just talk with her, okay?”

“I…”

“Come on o’ fearless leader. It’s just Kim. And she’s just as nervous about talking with you. Talk, clear the air. And then we can decide if you need two new rangers, or if your team’s together. She’s staying at the Marriott, just down the hall from me.”

Tommy paused and closed his eyes tightly. Talking with Kim was just what he’d been dreading. If he was honest with himself, he’d done everything he could to make sure that he wasn’t in the same room with her after the Muranthias thing, and he’d let the silence eat at him along with the pain.

And now… now he had to talk to her so they could be a team again? Couldn’t he just go back and take on Mesogog single handedly instead, he thought morosely.

“Tommy,” Jason started, and was rewarded with his friend’s eyes opening and focusing on him. There was a resignation there that encouraged and worried him all at the same time.

“I… it’s late. I’ll call… I’ll see her tomorrow and we’ll talk.”

“Good. I’ll see you both afterwards, and we can talk with the new kids about what is going to happen next.”

Nodding, Tommy shook Jason’s hand absently and watched him get up off the couch and move to the door. As the door shut behind Jase, Tommy got up and headed for the refrigerator. Pulling out a six pack of Budweiser that normally would have lasted him a week, he made his way back to the couch, determined to get numb so he wouldn’t dread the morning, and the fateful talk that he’d been avoiding for nearly a decade.


	2. Like We Never Loved At All

Morning turned into afternoon with no word about reconciliation or even hearing that Tommy had called to make any plans to talk. Finally Jason got tired of waiting and called Kim’s room, asking if she wanted to meet him in the hotel’s atrium for lunch. Agreeing, Kim met Jason and they sat at a table, and then made their order. As they waited, they made idle chit chat, Jason hoping to have Kim say what he knew she wouldn’t.

Sighing, he waited as their server set down their food and left them to eat.

“Did he call?” asked Jason before taking a bite of his burger.

“Who?” questioned Kim as she speared a piece of lettuce from her salad with her fork in a move much too violent to be natural.

“Tommy. He promised he’d talk to you today.”

“Why? I thought he’d just have Hayley ask for the dino gem back and kick me out of town,” she commented with a frown.

“Come on Kim. He’s not that heartless. Besides, it was a long time ago.”

“Yes, but… I mean, shouldn’t he want me gone? I mean, I go and show up in his shiny new life, a blast from the past he’d rather leave buried. I don’t blame him for wanting me to leave.”

“I don’t think he really wants you to go,” Jason said honestly, before putting a French fry in his mouth.

“Did he tell you that?” she nearly demanded, putting her fork down with a glare. When Jason didn’t answer, she knew she had him. “No, he didn’t. You’re just guessing. And guessing wrong, no doubt.”

“Oh come on Kim. Tommy and I have been friends for a while now. I think after all these years I’ve learned to read him…”

“You think?”

“How long have you and I been friends Kim? Long enough for you to know I wouldn’t shit you about this.”

“Okay, so maybe he’s willing to talk. It doesn’t mean we can get past it.”

“Or maybe you guys can start over.”

She seemed to physically shy from the idea, and again Jason wondered why his two best friends had to be so stubborn. He stared at her, prompting her to finally speak her mind.

“I don’t know… it’s been so long, so much water under the bridge. Hell, I burned the bridge in spectacular style.”

“Look, just give it a chance. You two were friends too…” Jason reminded her softly, reaching across the table to take her hand in his. “Just talk things out, and if you can both put aside your pain and your egos, maybe we can be a team again.”

Kim nodded silently, taking Jason’s words to heart. Perhaps this was what they both needed to move on. With the matter settled, they resumed eating their lunch, Jason hoping that Tommy wouldn’t need him to kick his ass again to get him to follow through.

Finally, they finished and split their bill. Knowing now that Tommy was supposed to call her, Kim headed back to her room. She walked in and headed to the nightstand by the bed, finding the red light on the phone indicating a message was lit. Dialing into the voicemail system, she listened to Tommy’s stilted voice asking if he could meet her at 4pm, after his classes got out for the day.

After hanging up the phone, she stared at it for a good fifteen minutes before picking it up and dialing the cell phone number he’d left on his message. When she got his voicemail, she nearly hung up, but took a deep breath and left him a message saying she was okay with seeing him at four and gave him her room number.

Then she hung up and sat heavily on the bed, trying to recall just how the man she’d wanted to spend the rest of her life with had ended up a stranger to her.

-x-

At a quarter past four there was a knock at the door to her hotel room, and Kim jumped slightly. He was late, some things never changed. Moving like she was in molasses, she finally made it to the door, and opened it with infinite slowness. Revealed at her doorway stood the man she was dreading seeing.

And the man she had longed to see for ages.

He stood with his hands stuffed in his pants pockets, looking uncomfortable and like a nervous teen preparing to ask a girl he liked out. Familiar territory for them, except this time their relationship wasn’t in a place where he’d be asking her out.

“Hey. Sorry I’m late, students with homework questions. Can I come in?”

Without a word, she waved him inside, and shut the door behind him. Tommy turned around and she just stood there, so he just took a seat on the small loveseat in the little suite and tried to get a grip on his emotions before he said anything.

“So…” he started, and then trailed off. How the hell was he supposed to do this?

Silence filled the room once again. Kimberly looked at Tommy and felt her own guilt and anger envelop her, and her mouth ran away before she could get her brain to control it.

“So, I guess you’re here to demand an explanation from me so you can have your ego soothed for something that happened years ago, and then you can ask me to leave. How about we just skip to the chase, I apologize and I’ll leave first thing in the morning,” Kim said defensively, pulling the silver gauntlet from her wrist and thrusting it at the man sitting on the small loveseat in her room.

Instead of taking it, Tommy just stared at it, his stomach twisting in knots that he truly didn’t understand. But he did know that Kim was a good ranger in the old days. And that she had earned her chance to be a ranger again after everything she’d done as a ranger before.

But he just had to convince her that they could work together, and convince himself of it at the same time.

“I don’t want it,” he finally said, reaching up to push her hand holding her bracelet back towards her.

“Excuse me?” she asked, stunned.

“I mean, I don’t want you to just quit. I want to talk to you, and if we can find some common ground, and you want to, you could stay…”

“You… you really think we can work together again?”

Kim nearly collapsed across from him in the armchair and stared at him in awe.

“I’m not saying this will be easy, or that the past won’t cause us problems,” Tommy forced out, fighting to stay calm and rational when all his old emotions just were nearly bursting to break free from their decade long repression.

“Of course it’s going to cause problems. You can barely stand to look at me, and I… I’m ashamed of how I treated you back then…” Kim offered up, her emotions starting to weigh on her more heavily than they had for a long time, faced with the man she’d loved, lost and hurt.

Wringing his hands, Tommy knew that this was his moment. That if he was ever going to drain away the long standing pain that he’d buried following the years after their break up, it was now.

“You really hurt me Kim. You dumped me, yes, but it was more than that. Everything I went through during the years after that; discovering my brother and heritage, handing away the red turbo powers, going to college, the PhD studies that led me here… You weren’t there for any of it, and part of me desperately needed you there.”

“But you had Kat…”

“I didn’t want Kat.”

Silence descended into the room once again. Kimberly couldn’t look at him. She knew that when she broke things off that he’d be hurt, but she always thought that it wouldn’t be long before she would be forgotten. That her replacement was waiting in the wings. She’d never realized that the attraction she thought Tommy was exhibiting towards Kat before she left hadn’t been enough to make her a substitute for the girl Tommy did want.

“I… things had changed with me, with us, and I knew I had to let you go so we could move forward separately. I never thought that it would cut you so deep.”

“It did Kim. Ever since then, every woman I’ve dated… I’ve kept my distance. Emotionally. Sure, I dated women, had sex with them, but I was always holding myself back. I was preparing myself…I was waiting for them leave me, hurt me. The way I looked at relationships… you did that to me Kim. And looking at you now, I have to admit to myself that part of that pattern has to do with the fact no matter what happened between us, deep in my heart I still cared about you. Still care for you.”

Tommy’s words had cut her too the bone and she’d lowered her head in shame as tears had begun to threaten to break over her lashes. Then with his slight revelation of his true, deep seeded feelings, Kim’s head slowly came up. The idea that after everything she’d done, that he could still care about her, it made her wonder if maybe they weren’t so far apart as she’d thought.

“I’ve always cared about you Tommy… I know you don’t believe me,” she started tentatively, trying to put as much honesty into her voice as she could. “But I did and I still do.”

“I… I think you do, but I don’t know if I trust you Kim. I mean, if you cared at all for me, wouldn’t you have tried to talk to me? It’s been years since you left me and you’ve been hiding on the other side of the country all that time.”

Kim wiped her face with her hands, removing the traces of wetness starting to stream there.

“And did you ever think there was a reason I was hiding? That I had finally understood the Oliver guilt complex? I know I did something to you that hurt you, scarred you. I broke your trust and betrayed you. Never mind that I thought the same of you… I never asked you, didn’t search for an explanation. I just made a bad choice and compounded it with how I treated you.”

Kim choked back her tears and pushed forward with the one phrase she knew he deserved.

“And I’m sorry.”

“So am I.”

They stared at one another, their eyes telling the other that forgiveness was theirs. And that there was still something between them that gave them a common ground to rebuild from. And from there…

“So, can we start over? Rebuild our friendship? I’ve missed you… being able to talk to you. Having you around to get rid of creepy guys trying to hit on me at my locker,” she said with a whisper of a laugh, remembering years past and her green champion.

“You still have guys hitting on you at your locker?”

“Well, not literally, but I still seem to attract the Skulls of the world.”

He gave her a slight grin, remembering the same times with fondness.

“I think that I might be able to help out. Although my steely glare is a bit dulled with the glasses these days.”

Kim laughed and Tommy felt a bubble of happiness that he’d missed for nearly a decade rise in his chest. Maybe they really did have a chance.

“So, how about we go get Jase and head back to the house. We can call the team to meet us there and discuss the future of the Dino Thunder team together.”

“Sounds like a plan. Because if we’re staying, Jase and I have to go shopping soon. I’m seriously lacking any purple in my wardrobe.”

Tommy chuckled loudly and nodded. Kim quickly moved to get her purse from the coffee table, and they exited the room, headed down the hall. Before they knew it, they were in front of Jason’s door. Kim knocked loudly, and after a minute, Jason appeared, remote control in his hand.

“Hey. So, you guys work things out?” he asked, eyeing the pair as they stood before his door, closer together than he would have expected just a day ago.

“We came to an understanding. Think you can spare a few hours to go meet with everyone?” questioned Tommy.

“Sure, I think Maury was a repeat anyway.”

Reaching behind him, he clicked off the TV, tossing the remote onto the loveseat, and grabbing up his door key before following his friends and fellow rangers out the door and off to their destiny.

-x-

Twenty five minutes later, Jason, Kimberly and Tommy were sitting in Tommy’s living room, laughing over an old story from their Angel Grove days when the doorbell rang. Tommy moved to get it, opening it to reveal Conner and Ethan, Kira hanging back a step.

“Okay Dr. O, here we are. What’s up?” asked Conner with a shrug.

“Come in guys. I called you here to discuss what to do in regards to the team.”

Conner, Kira and Ethan walked in, seeing Kim and Jason sitting on the couch. Conner moved to sit in one of the armchairs, Kira taking the other and Ethan leaning over the back of her chair. Tommy moved to join them, but stayed on his feet, looking over the mix of old and new rangers.

“Jase and Kim have agreed to stay with the team, if you’re all okay with it.”

“And what about you Dr. O?” asked Ethan, watching their teacher and the new black ranger.

“I’d be on the field with you as well. And I’d continue in the same capacity as I was before – helping you be better rangers and understanding what you’re up against.”

“With the three of you, we’ll have a lot of knowledge to help us. I hope you can be patient with us, we’re not in your caliber yet, but I think I speak for all of us when I say we can’t think of a better ranger leader for the team…” Conner remarked, nodding his head in realization of the edge they now had.

“Conner, I think you’re getting the wrong impression. I’m not leading,” stated Tommy, watching as everyone gave him looks of either surprise or understanding. “You are.”

“Me? Lead? But I thought…”

“You’re the red ranger Conner,” spoke up Jason suddenly, feeling it was time to explain the facts of the ranger leadership hierarchy. “The red ranger is almost always the leader. And you need to know that while Tommy, Kim and I have been doing this a lot longer than you probably ever will, this is your team.” Jason explained with a grin. They were so young. Had he and the other rangers ever been that young?

“But you, Dr. O, even Kim have more experience… one of you should be the leader.”

“Yeah, I mean it’s cool that it’s tradition, but shouldn’t we have someone who knows what they’re doing?” questioned Ethan, and then raised his hands defensively as Conner shot him a glare. “No offense man.”

“Tommy and Jason didn’t know anything about being a leader until they had to do it. We had a mentor, someone to guide us through being rangers. It’s the same thing for you. Except instead of just having us being here to show you the way, we’ll be out there with you,” explained Kim, looking fondly from Jason to Tommy before setting her gaze of Conner.

“Conner, you and Kira and Ethan were the first to be called, and you are the core of this team. You have the energy, the drive and the motivation to keep fighting,” explained Tommy simply.

“Motivation?” questioned Kira, picking up on that word, the meaning of it in terms of being a ranger confusing to her.

“You live here, I’m guessing for most of your lives. Your family, your friends, they’re all here. Jason and I don’t have any ties here, and Tommy’s just recently moved here. Keeping Reefside safe is something that’s going to be paramount to you specifically.”

“Aren’t you guys going to move here too?” Conner asked.

“That’s going to depend on how you feel about me and Kim staying on. If you want, we can get out of your way and Tommy can recruit some young people your own age. As long as he’s here, we know you’ll be okay.”

“But, we don’t want anyone else. You guys are way too cool. I mean, you’re ranger legends…”

“Exactly. As in history,” Jason remarked with a note of self-depreciation.

“Not anymore. You guys decided you were willing to put on the uniforms again when Dr. O was in trouble. Well, he may be safe, but Mesogog is still out there, and no one is safe. Don’t you have any of that duty and honor stuff still in you?” asked Ethan, playing on the sense of nobility he knew they had to have in them.

“More than you know,” replied Kim, with a nearly invisible glance in Tommy’s direction that more than a few people caught, but only Jason recognized.

“So stay,” said Conner seriously.

“You really want that? You’re willing to possibly have Kim or I argue your decisions?”

“Hey, I can learn from the best.”

“I think that goes for all of us,” said Ethan.

“Well, I guess it’s decided,” Tommy remarked with a grin. “We’re back in uniform.”

“Cool!” said Kira, getting up from her seat and going over to hug both Jason and Kim, leaving Conner and Ethan to follow in her wake, shaking hands.

“Now that this is settled, ranger team exercise, Friday after school in the forest behind the cave. I’ll expect everyone there,” announced Tommy.

The teens looked at him with depressed faces, but Kim and Jason gave them a look that reminded them that they were the new heroes on the block. They needed to get caught up with the legends in their midst, as well as all of them learning how to work together…

“Off you go. You have homework for my class tomorrow.”

The groans began again, and the three teens headed for the door, knowing that their teacher meant it.

“Back together again,” said Jason, nodding towards Tommy with a smirk.

“Guess so. Now what’s this I hear that you and Kim have different morphing calls? The ones for the team weren’t good enough for you?” joked Tommy, elbowing Jason in the ribs.

“We went with what we knew. Besides, you always had to be different, didn’t you Mr. White Ranger?” Jason remarked, making Tommy laugh out loud.

Kim looked to Jason and caught his eyes. She tapped her watch and gestured to the door. He nodded and watched her head for it.

“We should get back. I’ll talk to you tomorrow?” said Jason.

“Sure. How about we have dinner tomorrow? All three of us?” Tommy suggested, his eyes glancing away from Jason and settling on Kim.

“Tomorrow then,” replied Kim, as she stepped out the door.

Jason shook Tommy’s hand and grasped his upper arm with their familiar greeting and nodded slightly to his friend. Then he took his leave with Kim.

Closing the door behind him, Tommy leaned up against the wood, closing his eyes and breathing out. It was going to be an interesting tour of duty.


	3. Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Kira finished her song and stepped down from the stage at the cybercafé. For the team at the table, it was obvious that she wasn’t pleased.

“That was awesome. Is that something new?” asked Conner, smiling at the yellow ranger as she set her guitar beside her and sat down at the table with the team.

“Yeah. I’m working on the hook, but I think there’s something there.”

“I’m telling you that if this superhero gig doesn’t work out, you definitely have a musical career to fall back on,” remarked Ethan.

“It’s kinda hard to have a musical career when you can’t even get anyone to listen to you play,” groused Kira as Trent Fernandez, a young Hispanic classmate of theirs whom worked at the café brought over their drinks, sketchpad under his arm.

“I was listening, and I think you rock,” he said with a grin, and Kira smiled back at him.

“He’s right Kira. You have a lot of talent. Just keep at it… you never know where it will take you,” said Kim, reaching forward to get her drink.

“Nobody appreciates good music anymore. All you hear on the radio is that pop garbage,” complained Tommy, not noticing how Jason and Kim both looked away.

“Yeah, like what’s her name? Kylee Styles?” remarked Hayley, as she heard part of the conversation and then turned away with Trent to serve some other customers.

“Hey, Kylee Styles has some good music Dr. O,” said Conner, and without anyone noticing, Kim chewed her lip at Conner’s praise.

“Translation. He thinks she’s fine,” argued Ethan.

“No I don’t.” Everyone looked at Conner, disbelieving, especially Tommy, Jason and Ethan. “Okay, I do. But that has nothing to do with it.”

“You know she used to be a really good songwriter,” interjected Kira quickly, bringing Kim’s gaze towards her. “She used to be really sweet too. But now she’s all about her image.”

“You know Kylee Styles?” said Kim, less a question and more a surprised statement.

“Yeah. We used to be friends. We used to be in a band together, and then she got discovered and now she’s this huge pop diva,” said Kira with a misty look of remembrance in her eyes, before she looked to Kim. “How do you know who she is?”

“I… uh…,” mumbled Kim with an embarrassed look, glancing to Jason who simply shrugged.

“What’s with the evasiveness and the face?” Tommy asked, recognizing the look after years of seeing it and watching her look up to expose the surprise at his accurate assessment of her emotions.

He was getting better at reading her, Tommy thought to himself. Maybe being a ranger wasn’t the only thing that was like riding a bike. His thoughts were interrupted by Kim’s voice replying to his question.

“It’s just, well, I never thought that I’d be doing this.”

“Doing what?” Kira questioned.

“Writing throw-away pop songs for twenty something year old divas,” answered Kim, just before she covered her face with her hands.

“You…” stammered Conner, his brain starting to fill in what Kim had yet to say.

“Wrote her last hit single.”

“Oh my god!” yelled Conner, with similar echoes from Kira and Ethan, while Tommy stood in shocked silence.

“You’re a songwriter?” Tommy asked quietly, realizing how much of each other’s lives they’d missed.

“Yes.”

“How did that happen?”

“It was kind of an accident,” Kim began to explain. “It was while I was living in Florida, training for the Pan Global gymnastic competition. That’s another long story. Anyway, a bunch of the girls thought it would be funny if they submitted one of my original songs from my notebook to a local talent showcase. When they called, asking for a demo tape, I was pissed but surprised. Since I’d been invited, the team pressured me into following up and going.”

Tommy looked at her with a wave of melancholy. He’d remembered her singing, her songwriting… especially when it had been about or for him; but hearing that she’d ended up writing songs for a living surprised him though. He’d always expected that she’d follow her dreams and become a gymnast professionally, maybe opening a gym or becoming a private coach. Instead she’d sacrificed her ranger status, her friends and him to end up writing pop songs. Maybe she really had been telling him the truth that she was ashamed of what she’d done to the point that she had wanted to hide from him…

“And?” questioned Kira, excited.

“After my performance, this guy comes up and starts asking me questions. Come to find out, he was a talent scout for a record label and he offered me a recording contract.”

“Wow.”

“I told him I wasn’t interested.”

“Why not?” Ethan questioned, obviously shocked, like his team mates that she would turn down such a once in a lifetime offer.

“I was following my dream of gymnastics. If I bailed on it to go be a music star with a life span of a year, I would have tossed everything away,” Kim said, looking pointedly at Tommy as she said it. “I’d already lost so much; the last thing I wanted was to lose anything more.”

“So, what happened then?” asked Conner, his chin in the palms of his hands as he propped his elbows on the table.

“He asked if I would be interested in writing. I figured that since it was something I could do along with my Pan Global pursuits, I wouldn’t mind trying it. I submitted a few tunes, and got one recorded. As time went on, I racked up a few billboard hits, and found myself being sought after a lot, making more money and able to decide my own fate. So when my gymnastics career died out, I decided to follow the song writing path permanently.”

“Wow, that’s way cool. Have you met Kylee then?” queried Kira.

“Not really. I deal mostly with the producers and everything.”

“Does that mean you’ve written for like Brittney Spears and Christina Agulera?” Conner asked, excitedly.

“Once or twice, but they usually get a higher caliber of writer than me.”

“You were a good songwriter in the past. I can’t imagine that you haven’t gotten better over the years,” remarked Tommy, earning him a small grin from Kim that made his breath catch for a moment.

“Thanks. I just got off a conference call with my agent this morning, part of the reason for the early night last night and informed them where they could find me for the moment.”

“This is so cool,” said Kira, beaming at the prospect of a team mate with not only the same interests but with real life knowledge about her own dreams. “You’re like a famous songwriter, and you’re here.”

“Well, I wouldn’t put it that way, but have to admit that my career is beneficial in one way,” remarked Kim off-handedly.

“How’s that?” asked Ethan.

“I can live where ever I want to and write. So that means I can get an apartment here for the time being.”

“Why don’t you stay with Dr. O? You guys are old friends, right?” Conner questioned with a grin.

Kim nearly choked on her drink and Tommy went deathly still. The two of them turned slightly to look at one another and silent communication passed between them, like it had in the past.

“Can’t. He already offered his spare room to Jason.”

“Right,” said Jase quickly, looking between his friends with a smirk.

“Oh.”

“Well, here’s your chance for both of you to see her. According to her fan site, she’s in town to promote her new CD,” said Ethan, his fingers flying across his keyboard as he brought up Kylee’s webpage up on his laptop.

“Oh we are so there!” cried Conner, looking to Kira and Kim. “And since you guys know her so well, you can hook me up.”

“Whatever,” said Kira with a flash of attitude.

Tommy had been watching Kim’s interaction with the others until his friend’s gaze caught his eye; Jason’s attention had moved away to rest on the door. He slowly turned to follow Jase’s line of vision and saw a well dressed man, old enough to be the father of most of the kids in the place walk in, and felt his veins run cold. Jason looked from the black suited man to his best friend and eased up from his seat as Tommy moved ever so slowly towards the man.

“Earth to Dr. O. Are you in there?” asked Ethan as Tommy moved away from the table.

At the door, the man greeted the young Hispanic teen that had been serving them just minutes earlier. Tommy walked up to them and stared at the tall, blond man.

“Anton Mercer,” he said in shock. “I can’t believe it.”

The man Tommy was calling Anton met his gaze coolly and reached out to take his hand.

“Tommy. Tommy Oliver. How have you been?”

“You know my dad,” spoke the young man.

“Your dad? I had no idea. Your last name is…”

“It’s Fernandez. It’s a long, complicated story Tommy. More importantly, how are you?” interrupted Anton.

“Trent, can you help out with table number three? There’s been a bit of a mochaccino incident,” said Hayley, moving to Trent’s side quickly.

“Yeah. I’ll be right there,” replied Trent, and then he laid a hand on his father’s arm quickly before turning away. “See ya.”

“I don’t understand. I thought you were dead,” Tommy stated in a hushed voice. “I mean, the island was destroyed.”

“Well, I was lucky Tommy. From the looks of it, we both were.”

“Why didn’t you call? Send a message?”

“Yeah, well, you know what it’s like starting over. Trying to get your bearings.”

“Yeah, I do,” Tommy admitted. Then he leaned in close to nearly whisper in Anton’s ear, unaware of the team watching his every move. “Anton, the experiments we were working on, some crazy things have been happening. We need to figure some things out.”

“Yeah,” Anton said in a blasé manner, “I suppose you’re right. Look, I’ll clear some time next week, if that’s alright. It’s good seeing you again Tommy. Truly it is.”

With that, he grasped Tommy’s shoulders and then released them, turning and walking out the door. Tommy stood there, his face stunned as he slowly circled back to the table and saw Jason on his feet, Kim barely in her seat and the others looking at him from their spots with confusion.

“You okay bro?” asked Jason as he moved to meet Tommy halfway back to the table.

“Yeah, just surprised.”

“Okay, now that the drama is over, are we going to see Kylee or what?” asked Conner, his eyes lighting on Kira.

Kira nodded and she got up and headed for the door, Conner having already bolted from his seat. Kim sat for a moment longer, her eyes drifting back to Tommy and Jason before she stood and headed to join the others. But she hadn’t gotten five steps from the table before she was stopped.

“Kim,” Tommy said, reaching out to catch Kim’s arm, and both shuddered slightly at the touch.

“Yes?” she asked breathlessly, her eyes darting from his chocolate gaze, to the door and back again.

“Thanks for the quick answer. I was planning on offering the second bedroom to Jase… but… if things were different…you know you’d be welcome to stay there.”

“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

“We’re friends Kim. You do that for your friends.”

Kim’s mouth formed a small ‘o’ as Tommy turned back to Jason and they moved to sit at the table again. Her eyes watched him for a moment, as a million thoughts ran through her head. Perhaps, she though with a spark of hope, they could get back what they once had after all.

“Kim!” yelled Conner from the doorway.

“Coming!” she yelled, and hurried out the door to join Conner and Kira, leaving behind her best friend and the man she was realizing who had never truly left her heart.

-x-

The crowd crushed in on the signing table where Kylee and her manager were now sitting down, their words drowned out by the fans jockeying for a signature. Conner pushed Kira and Kim forward, the crowd somehow allowing them to make their way to the table.

“Go ahead, ask her,” Conner urged Kira as they arrived in front of Kylee.

For her part, the pop diva barely looked at her, pen in hand as she asked, “Who do you want it made out to?”

“Just write, “To my old friend, Kira Ford”,” said Kira with a frown.

Suddenly Kylee looked up and her eyes truly focused on the girl before her.

“Kira? Wow! I haven’t seen you for ages!” she gushed, and gave a faux hug and kiss to the yellow ranger. “I didn’t know you were a fan.”

“Actually, it’s my friend that’s the fan.”

“It’s Conner, with an E-R.”

“And our other friend, Kimberly Hart…”

“Ms Hart,” spoke the agent, glancing between the short brunette and the tall performer. “Kylee, you remember that Ms. Hart wrote your last single.”

“Oh, it’s so nice to meet you. I loved how your song just suited me so well. It was so much better than the stuff I used to do back when Kira and I used to perform together. All that silly teen-angst stuff. You know, at some point you have to grow up.”

“Coming through! I have a press pass. Move it,” yelled a blonde in the crowd, and at the word press, Kylee looked up and out into the crowd, preening as she awaited the media, her former friend and songwriter forgotten. “Cassidy Cornell, “Reefside Reporter”. Anyway, I’m here to do a story on how you went from struggling nobody to pop superstar.”

“Aren’t you kind. Well, you know it all started,” Kylee began, and then pulled up abruptly. “Oh hold on. Kira, Kim, I’m so sorry. Duty calls. Maybe we can catch up later.”

With that, Kira and Kim slid back into the crush of people, Conner watching Kylee with new eyes. Finally the three of them moved away from the spectacle.

“See what I mean,” Kim said seriously, her gaze locked with Kira’s. “A singing career isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

Kira nodded in understanding, and they moved off to wait and see if Kylee really meant what she’d said about catching up later.

-x-

“Alright, we’ve got you cornered,” called out Conner in his armor, as he, Jason, Ethan and Dr. O converged on the fuzzy bunny like monster that had aged people all across the city, including Kylee Styles.

“Is that what you think?” it replied as it launched an energy barrage, knocking Ethan and Conner flat, and staggering Tommy and Jason. “It’s over rangers.”

Just then, a loud sonic roar echoed through the court, sending the monster flying and the rest of the team to their knees. Kira and Kim raced onto the court, falling into battle stance.

“Kira, Kim!” called out Tommy as they all got up from their knees.

“Sorry about that. I should have given you the heads up on the Ptera scream.”

“You two okay?” asked Jason.

“As good as can be expected,” remarked Kira. “We left Kylee at the café. Hayley was looking after her until we can figure a way to reverse the aging ray.”

“I’m glad it was her and not me. I would probably be dead if that beam had hit me,” remarked Kim with a sarcastic tone.

“True,” said Kira, looking at her new ranger team mate with a smirk, “I mean Kylee aged way old, and Kim’s twice her age, so…”

“Hey!”

“No need to get so defensive. You’re hot for an older chick,” Conner stated appreciatively.

His comment earned him a glare from Tommy, which the younger man couldn’t see because of the helmet.

“How about less talking and more monster ass whooping?” asked Ethan.

“Sounds like a plan,” Kim said readily, taking hold of her gauntlet to transform it to her morpher. “I think we could use some more color here.”

“Dino Thunder, power up! Hah!”

“Purple ranger, power up!”

With a bright light, Kira and Kim were quickly encased in their armor, completing the team. Hurriedly they moved to surround the monster, hoping to surprise it. Ethan, Kira, Kim and Conner pulled their Thundermax sabers in unison and attacked, but were repulsed quickly by the monster, which sent them flying.

Jason hurried to stand before Conner and Ethan on one side of the court, using his dagger to conjure a series of light arrow which he sent across the court at the beast, staggering it. On the other side of the court, Tommy had skidded to a stop before Kim and Kira, his staff in hand.

“You okay?” he asked, looking briefly towards Kira, but his eyes resting mostly on Kim.

“Sure, just got the wind knocked outta me. This being an old ranger isn’t easy,” she said as she shoved her way up off the ground and cracked her knuckles. “Let’s see him try that again.”

As if on cue, the monster began to fire off his energy blasts at Kim and Tommy. Kim raised her hands before her and pushed forward with her mind, and in mid-air they slowed and then stopped, halted by the field of solidified air before her that had been made as thick as tar with her powers.

“Impressive,” said Tommy with a trace of awe in his voice.

“Thanks. Kira?”

“I got it.”

With that, Kira picked up a tennis racket and two tennis balls left lying on the court. With a quick throw and a hard swat, she sent them flying as Kim dropped her powers. The energy blasts fizzled away and the tennis balls found their mark – embedding in the nostrils of the monster.

“My nose!” it cried as it frantically danced around, trying to stop the blockage from short circuiting his power without success.

It flew backwards, crashing through a fence and onto the pavement.

“Put them together guys!” called Kira, bringing everyone running to her position.

Sword, staffs, shield, grips and Kim’s Stega Whip met to create a massive blaster rig. Everyone took up their bracing positions as Conner got ready to fire. In one shot, they destroyed the monster, turning it into a fiery blob. The three teens cheered, and Tommy, Jason and Kim just stood and waited, having been on the receiving end of so many evil villains resurrecting their monsters as giant sized foes that they knew they had just moments to wait.

They weren’t disappointed.

“Time to call in the heavy artillery,” said Tommy, his hand moving to his morpher to call in his Brachiosaurus, bringing in the rest of the team’s zords, with Jason following his lead.

Kim looked up and watched Kira’s yellow Pteranodon fly overhead, and shook her head slightly at memories of a pink pterodactyl so many years ago. She forced herself to refocus her attention to the purple Stegozord as it strutted its way from Tommy’s Brachio carrier zord.

In an instant, the red, blue and yellow ranger’s zords combined, creating the Thundersaurus Megazord. As the three younger team members jumped to the cockpit of their Megazord, Tommy, Kim and Jason moved to their individual zords control rooms, planning on flanking and herding in the monster for the coup de grâce that they knew the Megazord would bring.

Energy bolts and projectiles flew between the giant monster and the Megazord. As one volley knocked the Megazord down, Jason’s Dragozord flew in and sidetracked the monster as Kim and Tommy moved in unison to knock its feet out from under him, sending the creature crashing into the building behind it.

“Damn, more property damage,” complained Tommy.

“You’ll pay for it with monster taxes,” quipped Kim as she wheeled her Stegozord around in preparation not to get stepped on by the recovered Megazord.

Revving up the tail drill of the Tyrannozord arm, Conner, Kira and Ethan moved in for the kill, striking the monster and turning him into so much monster dust as he exploded in a fiery ball. Around the city, with the destruction of the monster, people were being changed back to their youthful selves.

Banishing their zords, the team gave one another congratulatory handshakes and hugs. They’d succeeded… as a team.

-x-

The following day, Kira was back at the café, ready to try again to get the attention of the crowd. As she arrived, she noted Kim and Dr. O at the table, but not Jason. She figured since Kim had a job, maybe that was where he was now. As well, Conner was there, and the red ranger took note when she arrived, pointing her out to the others.

Instead of going straight to the stage, she swung past the bar, seeing Hayley walking away with the picture she’d seen Trent with the day before.

“That’s what you were drawing?” Kira asked as she saw the framed picture of herself as a super hero move past in Hayley’s hands.

“Yeah. I wouldn’t have let Hayley put it up, but she’s insistent that way,” he replied modestly.

“No. It’s great. But why did you draw me as a superhero?”

“’Cause you’re brave for getting on stage, playing stuff from your heart; not conforming to some image,” he said with a grin, and then shrugged slightly, “and besides, superheroes are all I know how to draw.”

“Well thanks. That was really sweet,” she answered, giving him a final grin as she turned and headed to the stage, his eyes following her.

She passed the team and had Kim catch her hand and give her a wink. This time, she was going to get their attention.

“Good luck,” called out Conner as Kira climbed onto the stage.

“I wrote this next song with a friend a long time ago,” Kira announced as she moved to the microphone. “I hope you like it.”

She nodded to the band to start as she took hold of her guitar. In front of the stage, Kim, Dr. O, and Conner all waited expectantly, surrounded by the other patrons of the café who were no longer sitting, but standing around the front of the stage near the back of the café.

Kira launched into the song about heartbreak. And then at the chorus, from the side door walked Kylee Styles, taking up the space beside Kira and singing along. They grinned at one another and continued their now duet as the crowd gasped and exclaimed in shock at the pop diva’s appearance. Kim gave a knowing glance to the star who nodded at her hit songwriter as Conner and Tommy looked at one another in awe.

They continued through the song, and when they finished, Kira and Kylee hugged as the crowd applauded.


	4. Addicted

Jason was perched on his ATV vehicle, the white paint catching the light coming through the trees as he studied the scene before him. Or at least the part of the scene where Kim was lounged against her raptor bike staring at Tommy, under the impression that no one was watching her doing it.

He grinned slightly… he had the best seat in the house.

Things were rapidly changing, like global warming on fast forward, and Jason was standing back, watching the ice thaw around his best friends under the heat of passion and emotions that had been there since day one.

In truth, he’d wondered what exactly had taken them so long.

He had always known that Tommy had never had the depth of feeling for Kat that everyone thought he should have. He’d been there for his friend as girlfriend after girlfriend failed to meet up to Tommy’s expectations, and they simply drifted apart, hampered by Tommy’s aversion to creating ties with them; open up to them. All because of one girl that Tommy never really got over.

In Kim’s case, she’d screwed herself. The man she’d met in Florida had only been using her to make his ex girlfriend jealous. And once she was back in the picture, he’d let Kim fall hard. After that, Kim had avoided the majority of her friends in shame, having been deceived like that as well as hurting Tommy so horribly. She had known that she should try to apologize, but never got the courage to ask for his forgiveness. So she ended up drifting from relationship to relationship, much like Tommy, but looking to recapture what she’d lost when she’d lost him.

And now fate had finally stepped in forced the issue; Hayley calling Kim to Tommy’s rescue nearly a decade later was just the break they both needed to mend things.

Now, Jason was finding himself engrossed in watching his best friends nearly repeat the kind of nervous looks and conversations as they’d had in their early relationship. It was obvious to anyone who knew them, maybe anyone with eyes that while both of them were afraid, they were starting to feel again what had once been between them.

Since their arrival, he’d been watching and waiting, and just recently he’d started calling a few people, old friends, to let them know that maybe everything might go back to the way they were supposed to be with Tommy and Kim...

But right now, he reminded himself with a slight rebuke, he was supposed to be paying attention. There was training to hold, and from the sounds of it, Tommy wasn’t very happy.

“So where’s Ethan?” asked Tommy as strode back and forth.

Kira and Conner, who stood before him next to their raptor cycles in the forest behind Tommy’s house gave him dual looks of unease.

“We should have grabbed him from the cybercafé. Sorry Dr. O,” said Kira with a wince.

“What’s the big deal anyway? Do we really need to practice? I mean, with you, Kim and Jason, we’re like surrounded by super ranger experience,” Conner remarked.

“Training is just as important as the real deal. And this is exactly the time for us to impart some of that wisdom to you instead of trying to teach you in the middle of a battle.”

Kira and Conner groaned at that.

“Besides, you never know when you might be attacked.”

As if on cue, Tommy was struck in the back by a TyranoDrone, sending him flying forward into the arms of Conner and Kira. Instantly Jason and Kim were up and away from their vehicles and running to join them as a group of TyranoDrones along with Zeltrax appeared not 20 yards from their position.

“Couldn’t have planned that better,” quipped Tommy, and Kim gave him a look.

“You had to say something,” Jason complained as he took up a fighting stance beside Kira. “I would have thought that you knew better by now, oh greatest living ranger.”

“Bite me.”

“Guys, less banter, more ass kicking please?” asked Kim from her spot beside Conner.

“Attack!” yelled Zeltrax, as he and his forces rushed the rangers.

Planning to meet them halfway, Tommy charged as well, leading the others into the fight. Tommy attacked Zeltrax, the evil armored being slicing at him with his sword while the black ranger dodged and leapt away from the blade, looking for his opening. Conner and Kim worked together, as did Kira and Jason; the younger rangers getting the opportunity to learn from their older counterparts as Dr. O had hoped, but in a more intense and live action setting than he’d wanted.

But they were being overwhelmed. The odds were at least four to one, and with Tommy sidetracked with Zeltrax there was always the possibility that things could get even worse unless they did something drastic now.

“How do you feel about a ride in the country?” asked Kira as she was knocked to her raptor cycle.

“Great day for it,” replied Conner as he punched back another TyranoDrone.

“Let’s hit the road!” called out Jason, as the team all moved to their bikes except for Tommy.

“You guys go, I have company.”

Nodding, the all paused long enough to transform their gauntlets into their morphers, and make the change to give them some more advantage.

“Dino Thunder, power up!”

“White Ranger, power up!”

“Purple Ranger, power up!”

With a series of light flashes, the team found themselves transformed into their armor. Hurriedly, Jason, Kim, Conner and Kira jumped on their vehicles and sped off, leaving Tommy with Zeltrax in a more even footing. As the team rode through the TyranoDrones, they fired off their lasers, slicing through the battalion before them.

“Sweet!” exclaimed Conner as he realized the damage their bike’s weapons could do.

As the rest of the team dispatched the TyranoDrones, Tommy’s battle against Zeltrax continued, until his foe realized that he had to escape. As Zeltrax ported away, Tommy moved to join the others, who had gotten off their vehicles and were heading his way.

“That was seriously random,” remarked Conner.

“Probably a diversion. Go to the café and get Ethan,” said Tommy. “Conner, take Jase, Kim and Kira with you and meet me at the lab when you’re done.”

“Okay.”

“You got it.”

“Back soon bro.”

With a nod, Kim acknowledged their marching orders, and the four of them headed to the cyber café to hopefully retrieve Ethan before he ended up on the receiving end of a solo sneak attack.

-x-

“Think he’s still here?” asked Conner as they arrived at the café.

“Let’s find out,” answered Kira as the four walked to the door.

As they all approached the door, a hideous laugh echoed behind them, causing the foursome to turn. In the street behind them, an eight foot tall monster waved its arms at them, and Kim and Jason sighed.

“Could these villains get a new playbook?” Kim complained.

“At least we know what to expect,” replied Jason.

“If you’re looking for your friend, you’re too late,” spoke the monster with glee. “Unless you want to join him.”

Conner and Kira raced forward and attacked, throwing kicks and punches. As the monster evaded them, Kim and Jason waded into the battle as well.

Conner backed up while the other three kept the monster occupied and tapped his gauntlet, opening up the communications channel in the bracelet.

“Dr. O, we found one of Mesogog’s buddies, but no Ethan.”

“I’m getting a reading on him. Keep looking while I pinpoint the signal.”

A sudden blast of sound/light energy blasted from the arm of the monster, sending Kira and Kim tumbling to one side of the street and Jason and Conner to the other.

“Easy for him to say,” complained Conner quietly as he shoved his way up off the pavement.

Again and again the four of them were blasted at by the monster, sending Conner and Kira behind a series of crates for cover. On the other side of the street, Kim and Jason were using a double parked car as their shield.

“Now would be a good time to find Ethan,” said Conner to Kira as they ducked again as another blast passed over their hiding spot.

“See if you can draw his fire and maybe Kim and Jason can help you keep him occupied while I check inside.”

“I don’t know how long we can hold him off. You be careful in there though, okay?”

Kira nodded, and as Conner launched himself into the line of fire, Kira jumped away towards the cyberspace’s front door. Seeing the split in the team, Jason realized that Conner had to have decided to keep the monster sidetracked while Kira went in looking for Ethan.

“Good plan,” he said aloud, and Kim nodded, realizing the same thing Jason had.

“Let’s give the kid a hand,” she said as she rushed out to join the red ranger, Jason right behind her.

Little did any of them know that in sending Kira alone into the cyberspace, she was bound to locate Ethan. Just not the way they thought, as the malfunctioning code breaker that had already sucked Ethan as well as Cassidy and Devin into the Wizard’s World game was doing the same to her.

While battles raged in the game, so did the battle outside.

Conner was knocked back again towards the crates and crashed through them with a loud thud. Achingly he pushed himself up while Kim cart wheeled across the street, making the monster’s blasts miss her. As she huddled beside Conner, helping him sit, Jason used his drago dagger to fire off his light arrows at the monster, staggering it.

“Kira’s not back yet?” Kim remarked with a touch of worry.

He shook his head negatively. The fact was she should have been out by now, unless he’d sent her into an ambush. If that was the case, he’d sent her in alone, and if anything happened to her… it would be his fault.

The blond haired musician had become a team mate, a friend, and if he had to be pressed to answer truthfully, something more than that. The fact that he’d attended every single gig she’d played since they met had to say something…

But he had to focus. There would be time for thinking amorous thoughts about Kira later. Rescuing her now was what he needed to do.

“I’ll go after her, you help Jason” said Kim as Jason blocked a swing by the monster and rushed towards the cyberspace’s door.

Kim rushed inside to find the place empty, just as Kira had. As she stepped closer to the computer screen that was emitting a bluish glow, she felt herself being pulled into the same vortex that the others had gone through, and found herself deposited along with Kira and Ethan.

“Kim!” the two yelled as they continued to fend off the strange creatures that Ethan had been besieged with.

“You guys okay?” she asked as she pushed up off the forest floor.

“Yeah. Just getting bored with these things,” replied Ethan.

“How about we show them what rangers can do?” Kim remarked, flipping her morpher into place. The others nodded and suddenly where two teens and a late twenty something woman had stood, three rangers awaited the next attack.

Outside in the real world, Conner and Jason had started to get pissed off with the constant attacks of the monster.

“I’m so over you,” complained Conner as he jumped from the spot he’s been taking cover at and leapt before the monster, intending to morph.

Instead the monster blasted him, sending him flying backwards and through the door of the cyberspace. The blast had given him so much momentum that Conner flew across the room, his body landing heavily on the computer terminal, and causing sparks to fly.

“What the…” Conner said as he got up and watched device next to the computer terminal start to sputter.

For a moment Conner wondered what had happened to Kira and Kim, before a blue light flashed behind him, and he turned to see Kim, Ethan and Kira in their uniforms battling with some unknown bad guys. They all paused for a moment as they realized that they were no longer in the game, but when their opponents attacked again, they instantly returned to the fight.

“What’s going on?” yelled Conner over the din.

“Don’t ask,” cried out Kira as she held the staff of one opponent as she high kicked backwards into the head of another.

“Oh man, Hayley’s seriously gonna lose it,” Ethan whined as he threw a bad guy across the room, and it tumbled into some stools and over the main counter, causing crashing sounds to be heard.

“Conner, morph and meet us outside, okay?” Kira said.

“And get Jason suited up too,” added Kim.

“Gladly.”

Conner morphed quickly and rushed outside to prompt Jason to do the same. Behind them, Kira, Kim and Ethan herded the strange foes into the street where the monster they’d been fighting was already engaged with Jason.

With the added power of their morphed forms, the monster decided he no longer wanted to play, and called up a portal and disappeared.

“Good riddance,” said Conner. “We’ve got to check out that game.”

Nodding, they all followed Conner back into the café where Ethan tried to make sense of what had happened.

“It’s doing it again,” complained Ethan worriedly.

“Dude, what’s going on?” asked Conner as the image of the wizard on the screen disappeared.

“I kind of don’t know where to start.”

“The truth is always best told from thine heart,” came a voice behind them, and they turned to see the embodiment of the wizard now in the room.

Kim sighed and ran a hand over her face.

“Oh boy…” Jason murmured and looked at Kim with a look that recalled one too many memories of screw ups in their teenaged ranger days.

“Maybe Dr. O and Hayley can help,” Conner said anxiously, and they all nodded, Ethan grabbing his code breaker and the others leading the little wizard into the street to somehow find their way to the command center cave and some solutions before anything worse happened.

-x-

After having admonished Ethan, gotten Beldorf back to his game and beaten the monster, it was nice to just sit at the cybercafé and relax.

Sitting on the couch closest the window, Kim let out a long sigh. Winding down after a battle felt more like coming home than she’d expected. Of course, the fact that the cybercafé had a decidedly community center/juice bar feel to it was one part to that sentiment. The other wholly resided with the fact that she was back in uniform along with Tommy. She focused her gaze to watch the object of her thoughts at the counter, letting them linger for a moment before her eyes drifted away to watch the rest of the team, minus Jason. They were at the table that seemed to be theirs as much as a table at the juice bar had been the ranger’s back in the day.

Suddenly she heard someone coming her way. She looked up and smiled as she took the cup of latte that Tommy had brought her along with his own black coffee.

“Thanks. So, are you glad to have your mouth back now?” she joked as he sipped his coffee before moving away to the other sofa.

“Very funny,” he replied as he sat down across from her heavily, one arm thrown along the back of the couch while the other held his cup. “At least we were able to fix things and Ethan seems to have learned his lesson.”

“We all had to learn the hard way. You know that.”

“Where’s Jason?” he asked as he recalled that he had seen Kira, Ethan and Conner at their table working on homework, but Jason hadn’t been there with them.

“He headed back to your place. Said he had a call to make.”

“Okay…” he trailed off, taking a swallow of his coffee.

“I’d bet that he’s calling Trini to let her know how things are going here,” she said with a wink before drinking some of her latte.

“Trini? Did I miss something?”

“They went out a couple times last year before she started doing the books for his construction company. I don’t know if they’re still dating although they still hang out…”

“He didn’t mention that he was dating Trini. How do you know? Hell, how is it you two know so much about each other anyway. You aren’t…” Tommy trailed off, his heart catching in his throat as he contemplated what he would do if she said yes.

“Eeww, no. I have no interest in ever dating a man who’s all but my brother. We just got to be the only other person we could talk to. When things imploded in Florida, Billy was unreachable, as was Aisha and Trini. I ended up on the phone with Jase more often then not, and the same sort of happened for him after the gold ranger fiasco. For the last six years or so, I trusted him to be there for me.”

“So he was there for you when you met the guy you called me a brother for?”

“You mean the jackass that was using me to get his ex-girlfriend back, and dumped me once she was back in his bed? Yes,” she bitterly said, and then took a gulp of her latte.

“You…”

“I got played. I let him use my loneliness against me, and I did something stupid. I let him all but seduce me, making me feel like I had to make a choice between you two, so I broke up with you without thinking things through. Without calling you. Without me realizing I really wasn’t in love with him more than I was in love with the idea of being in love with someone.”

“So… you really don’t think of me as a brother…” Tommy started, his mind fixated on the one part of her conversation that he wanted to hear.

“No... I was just trying to come up with a way to make it… easier. Which turned out so well in the end didn’t it?” she complained sarcastically before drinking from her cup again, and then wondered why he had phrased his statement like that, “Anyway, why do you ask?”

Tommy took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He had to have learned a few things in the last decade, and surely courage where this slight woman was concerned had to be one of them. He’d been fighting down what he’d been starting to feel the moment he’d seen her back in his life, until he’d finally realized that he really didn’t want to fight it anymore.

“I thought, maybe we could start over,” he began, and saw Kim’s head tilt to the side, questioning, since they’d already started over as friends, “and I could take you to dinner this Saturday.”

There was stunned silence for a minute while Kim’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. Across from her, Tommy was wondering if he’d just damaged the fragile friendship that they’d reformed for his desire to see if what they’d had before was still there.

“I… you. You’re asking me on a date?” she quietly asked, still surprised.

“Yeah. You think we can do that?” he questioned cautiously, the hope in his voice evident to her though.

Kim looked at the man who had always held a special place in her heart and wondered. Could they recapture what they had?

Considering that she’d come rushing to his aid the second that Hayley had called her, and thought her world had crashed and burned when she thought Zeltrax had killed him, she knew that her feelings for him weren’t as gone as everyone might think they were. Since her arrival it had just been one memory on top of another reminding her of the buried feelings she still had for him. And with each moment they spent together as ‘friends’, those feelings and memories just made it more clear that she still wanted what they’d had.

“I’m game.”

“Great,” Tommy said as he smiled and took a sip of his coffee, his heart pounding in his chest. He had a date with the prettiest purple ranger, and maybe, if he got really lucky, they might just build something better than they’d had before.


	5. Who’s Your Daddy?

“Thanks for the ride home,” said Trent as he and Tommy walked out of the cybercafé. “Dad would have freaked if I got home late again.”

It had been a particularly long day for the young man, between the massive influx of customers, to his dad’s arrival and obvious distain at his son’s chosen profession. The offer of a ride home by his science teacher was a welcome break from everything.

“No problem. Hey, speaking of your dad, there’s been something that I’ve been wondering. All those years, working for your father and he never mentioned he had a son.”

Trent shrugged.

“Oh. He didn’t. You know, have one, that is. Him and my real parents worked on a dig a few years ago. There was a cave-in. My parents never got out.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” replied Tommy, his sorrow for the young man genuine in a way the teen would probably never know.

“He’s been great though,” Trent remarked as he walked around the back side of Tommy’s jeep. “He’s taken me in, given me everything. You know, a home, a life. Not a lot of people would have done that.”

They both climbed into the vehicle, putting on seat belts as they did.

“Yeah,” Tommy finally acknowledged, thinking of his own adoptive parents before turning over the engine.

Quickly they were on the road, the silence between them comfortable enough as Trent thought of his father, his parents and his life, unaware that his teacher was sitting behind the wheel, doing much the same thing. Turning a bend in the road, the green trees stretching along one side, Tommy glanced up into the rear-view mirror and was taken aback.

“What the…”

Behind them, speeding along like an old episode of the Bionic Man, a golden figure was chasing them… and catching up.

“Trent, look. Do you see a…”

Trent turned around, his eyes bulging.

“A big gold guy running 50 miles an hour right behind us?”

Knowing that he wasn’t seeing things, Tommy slammed on his brakes, the jeep skidding to a hard stop. The gold pursuer didn’t stop as quickly, and slammed into the rear of the jeep, flinging Trent and Tommy forward against their seat belts.

“Whoa,” exclaimed Trent and the two hurriedly unbuckled their seat belts to jump from the car.

Walking back, they found the golden man shaped figure sprawled out on the pavement.

“What is that thing?”

“Oh man, my insurance company’s never gonna buy this,” complained Tommy, knowing full well that this was probably more serious than a dented fender.

Suddenly the golden figure rose up, his body almost levitating into a standing position, startling both of them.

“Which one of you is Dr. Oliver?” the now obviously armored menace spoke.

“That’d be me,” said Tommy, moving forward quickly as Trent watched in shock.

“Then prepare for your demise. You’re mine.”

As the creature rushed forward, Tommy pushed Trent back and raced to meet the golden being. Arms flew as strikes were blocked and fists were thrown. Tommy was pushed back, and he quickly raced around to start a new attack, feet flying this time. Those moves were blocked, and Tommy went back on the defensive, his body moving like a willow in the wind as he dodged blow after blow before being caught by the gold attacker’s arm and thrown in the air to land heavily on the side of the road.

Behind the back of the jeep, Trent watched in horror, completely ignored by the armored being attacking his teacher. Tommy hurriedly slid himself to the front of the jeep, propping his back up against the front bumper as he shoved his jacket cuff up.

“Better call for backup,” he murmured as he brushed his hand along the gauntlet on his left arm and pressed on either side of the stone, sending out the distress call.

“You must be destroyed!” cried the metal monster as it raised its arm above its head in preparation of a strike.

“No! Ah!” screamed a male voice from the other side of the car, as Trent launched himself over the end of the jeep and struck the monster from his blind spot, sending it flying before he ran to take a makeshift fighting stance before his teacher.

“No Trent. Stay back,” Tommy insisted, trying to push the young man back behind him once again.

“I can help!”

With that the young man raced off to engage the monster, his untrained style being easily repelled by the being until the armored figure lifted him off the ground.

“Trent!”

The golden figure spun Trent’s body over his head and flung him like a sack of potatoes to crash into the pavement feet from the end of Tommy’s jeep. Shaking himself off, Trent somehow launched himself up again, his feet kicking in a near parody of Tommy’s earlier, but the creature dodged them easily, and caught him with a fist to the throat before throwing him again to the pavement. Unable to watch any longer, Tommy raced to confront the gold plated monster again, but slid to the ground near the front wheel, his shoulder and side radiating pain that made his eyes water.

Just as it looked like the golden being was about to come and finish them, a laser blast appeared from behind them, sending the monster flying. Four bikes and an ATV sailed through the air, skidding to a halt in front of the jeep. Astride them sat the reinforcements that Tommy had been waiting for, and he let himself grin slightly.

“Are you okay?” asked Conner and he sped up to Tommy first.

“Yeah,” said Tommy, and watched as Conner, Ethan and Kira moved past him in a hurry to confront the bad guy.

Of course, he knew he wouldn’t be able to fool Kim or Jase.

“You’re still a bad liar bro,” said Jason as he knelt by Tommy, Kim right beside him.

“What’s broken?” Kim asked apprehensively, her hand brushing carefully along his side where Tommy clutched it.

“I don’t think anything’s broken, but my ribs are probably badly bruised.”

“Good thing Kim’s gonna take care of you while the others and I take care of this guy,” snapped Jason, as he got up and hurried over to Conner and Ethan.

Kira had slowed and stopped at the back bumper of the car where she found Trent braced against the spare tire.

“Trent? Are you all right?”

“Yeah,” he said, and then looked up to see the helmet and visor of the yellow ranger. “Hey, how do you know my name?”

“Uhh…” stammered Kira from behind her helmet.

As Kira and Kim checked on the injured Tommy and Trent, Jason, Ethan and Conner battled with the golden armored monster. Just when it looked like they finally had the upper hand, a portal opened and Zeltrax appeared before them, blocking them from the golden being.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” said Conner, drawing himself up to his full height as he prepared to stand down both Zeltrax and his ‘assistant’.

“Ha!” Zeltrax said, and then turned to the golden figure behind him. “You, return with me at once.”

“But father, my mission is not complete.”

“Now. Do as you’re told.”

“Yes father.”

With a wave of Zeltrax’s arm, he and their golden adversary disappeared. Leaving Jason, Conner and Ethan confused at what they’d just seen.

“Did he just call him ‘father’?” asked Conner.

“I think so,” Ethan replied.

“Don’t be so surprised,” stated Jason, looking back to where the others still sat. “In this business, you should always expect the unexpected. It will save your life…”

They shrugged and moved to join the others. Conner and Ethan came and helped Kira get Trent up and moved to the passenger seat. Jason hefted Tommy up and he and Kim walked him to the driver’s side.

“You did this just to get out of our date,” Kim said with a quiet, joking voice.

“No way. Give me a day and I’ll be good as new. You remember ranger healing.”

“Yeah bro, but that was when we were sixteen,” interjected Jason.

“So, will you two be okay now?” asked Conner in his red ranger leader role.

“Yeah. Thanks rangers,” said Tommy with a straight face that he was fighting to keep in place.

“Very well. Take care,” stated Jason, waving to Trent and Tommy before they turned to their bikes and drove off.

“Wow… that was…” started Trent as Tommy turned the engine over.

“Strange. Well, I guess that’s what happens when you live in a city with monster attacks. How about we get you home, huh?”

Nodding, Trent put on his seat belt as Tommy hit the gas and continued down the road to Mercer’s home to drop off this way too caring young man who had put himself between him and an unknown enemy.

-x-

“I don’t believe it,” complained Hayley as she threw the offending document onto the counter of the café.

At the counter, Tommy and Conner looked up with equally confused looks.

“Junk mail?” asked Tommy.

“I wish. Check this out.”

“What’s it say?” questioned Ethan.

“It’s a letter from the city. It seems as of tomorrow, I have a new landlord.”

“Not just any landlord. Anton Mercer,” said Tommy with a grimace.

“He’s gonna rebuild the whole café. He’s going to replace me,” Hayley said with an anxious voice.

“With who?” Ethan wondered.

At that moment, Trent walked in and Hayley and Ethan zeroed in on his shrugged shoulders and downcast look. Tommy turned around as well to see Mercer’s adopted son standing there, his expression not pleased at all.

“So you’ve heard,” Trent said, is voice obviously upset.

“So, what’s the deal man? One rough day at the office, so your rich daddy buys it for you?” Ethan verbally sniped.

“It’s not like that. I had nothing to do with this.”

“Look, I’ve got a friend at City Hall. Maybe we can check out the deal and see if Mercer missed something,” offered Tommy.

“I’ve known my dad long enough to know that he doesn’t make mistakes.”

“I’ve known your dad long enough to know he does,” fired back Tommy. “Come on Ethan.”

“Wait. I’m going with you. This is because of me. I’ll do whatever it takes to fix this.”

“City Hall, here we come,” said Ethan, getting up off his stool.

As they started out the door, in walked Jason, looking over the group and noting the sour expressions.

“Tommy, what’s going on?”

“Hey Jase, we’re on our way out… why don’t you ask Hayley?”

“Okay…” Jason replied, slightly confused.

“Come on Jason, I’ll tell you the whole sad story over some coffee. Maybe if I lose this place you can have your construction company build me a new one somewhere else,” she said with a mock laugh.

“You lost your lease?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, if Tommy’s on the case, you should rest easy… he usually gets his way,” said Jason, turning back to watch his best friend leave with Ethan and Mercer’s son before swiveling back to be greeted with a cup of coffee and Hayley’s smiling face.

-x-

“Okay, let’s get these walls torn out. We can save the computers,” said Mercer as he strode into the Cyberspace, his lackeys behind him.

“Hold on,” interjected Hayley, moving out in to the main area of the café to block his progress. “You don’t own it yet.”

“Hayley, you know, as much as I hate to say this, you really can’t fight City Hall.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that Dr. Mercer,” Councilwoman Sanchez said from where she stood at the café’s counter, and Mercer looked very uncomfortable at seeing her. “My name is Eleanor Sanchez, councilwoman for the 33rd District. It is with great pleasure I inform you the City Council has voted to put your purchase of this land on hold.”

Councilwoman Sanchez had walked to stand beside Hayley, and behind them, Tommy and Jason took up positions of support.

“You’re a part of this?” Mercer asked Tommy with distain.

“Actually, we had your son to thank,” Councilwoman Sanchez stated with a grin. “He made me realize that a place like this, a safe haven for learning and interaction for the youth in our community is something that shouldn’t be disturbed or changed in any way.”

Around them, the teens that populated the place gathered around Hayley and Councilwoman Sanchez as well, creating a human barrier, a force that had defeated Anton Mercer, through his son’s concern for them.

“I was only trying to do what’s best for my son,” Mercer complained. “Well, I’ll just be going then.”

As Mercer and his employees left, the group broke out into cheers. Tommy hugged Hayley and then shook Councilwoman Sanchez’s hand. Next to them, Conner and Kira hugged, and then broke quickly as she moved to hurriedly hug Hayley.

Jason shook Tommy’s hand in congratulations, and then moved to shake Hayley’s hand when she surprised him, catching him in a bear hug. Arms around one another, Hayley and Jason quickly backed up, their eyes glancing away as they moved off to other greet other people, both of them unaware they were both having the same strange feeling about the moment.

“Hey bro, don’t you have somewhere to be?” Jason said after a little bit, as he looked at his watch and noted the time.

Tommy and Kim had planned their date for seven, and it was a quarter till. The main reason she hadn’t come with everyone to the cybercafé was she was heading home to get cleaned up and ready for their date.

“Crap! I have to go pick up Kim. She’ll kill me if I’m late.”

“Have fun! Remember, she’s like a sister to me,” called out Jason, his face stretched with a grin as his best friend raced off to his first date with Kim in nearly a decade.

-x-

Tommy pulled his jeep up to the small furnished studio apartment that Kim had rented and parked in front just as his watch read seven. Turning off the engine, he ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. Climbing out, he reached into the back seat to grab something and then headed to her door. Knocking, he waited until the door finally swung open.

Kim stood there in casual attire, a violet spaghetti strap top and a pair of dark jeans. It was probably the least provocative thing she could have worn, but it still was making parts of his anatomy throb.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself. You’re on time,” Kim stated with a smirk.

“Things have changed you know. I sort of have to be to school every day before classes begin, so I’ve had to learn to be on time.”

“Understandable,” Kim replied, looking at the side table by the door for her purse. “Where are we going?”

“I found this Mexican place a few weeks after I got here. You still like Mexican, right?”

She smiled at him with a hint of surprise.

“Yes, I still love Mexican. So, you’re on time and you remembered my favorite food. Are you sure you’re Tommy Oliver?”

“Ha, ha… very funny. I’ll have you know that I may forget a lot of things, but things about you…” he trailed off, unsure if he should even think what he was about to say, yet alone think it.

“Same here,” she offered up quietly with a smoky, knowing gaze.

Tommy swallowed hard. Every old emotion he’d ever had for Kimberly was back with a vengeance and some new ones were coming on fast. Still, they’d been apart for nearly a decade, they needed to get reacquainted with one another before they could take any steps forward.

As Tommy watched her, Kim felt herself starting to blush. Just a few weeks in proximity to this man had gotten her hormones in a frenzy and her heart into a whirlwind of desire. When she’d first seen him after so long, she’d known that the love she’d had for him had never truly died, it had just been buried. And now, with their understanding, their ‘dating’, she finally felt she could resurrect those emotions and let them thrive.

“Come on… we have reservations in fifteen minutes,” Tommy said suddenly, shaking them both out of their reverie.

Locking up, Kim followed him to the jeep.

“I forgot to mention this earlier… another jeep?”

“I had a sports car for a while, leased, but it just didn’t feel like me, you know?”

“As long as you promise to remember to put the top up when it starts to rain.”

Tommy looked her direction with a slightly amused glance. It wasn’t due to start raining for a month or two, being Southern California and all, but she was talking like this was what she was expecting… to be in his car come winter. It made his heart thud harder in his chest.

“I mean… you need to keep dry,” Kim stammered, realizing just what she’d said and how she’d meant it. She didn’t want to scare him off…

“I understand. Not to worry. ‘We’ll’ stay dry, I promise.”

Starting the engine, they headed off. In the jeep, they sat in a comfortable silence. There was plenty of time to talk now… and they had to have something to talk about over dinner, they both thought independently. In what seemed entirely too short a time, they were at the restaurant. Tommy jumped out and went to her side, opening her door. She smiled and let him help her out and close it again.

Going inside, Tommy went to the podium and gave the hostess his name. She picked up a couple of menus and escorted them to a corner table away from most of the dinner crowd.

“Trying not to be seen with me?” Kim asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Just looking for some privacy,” Tommy tossed back, and Kim blushed lightly.

“So, what’s good?”

“Everything.”

Kim pursed her lips and fought back the saucy remark that wanted to fly off her tongue. Before she could ask anything else, the waiter came by, dropping off some water and chips, and asked if they were ready. Tommy looked to Kim and she nodded, and they quickly ordered.

Once their order was in, they settled in to chat, finding that some things had certainly changed, from Kim’s decision to cancel her lease and sell her furniture in Florida to Tommy’s doctorate having been accomplished in a great part because of Mercer’s previous influence with the university and Hayley’s overall help. They talked about their families, and Kim expressed her interest in meeting David when he came out to see Tommy next, and Tommy asked about Kim’s brother and sister-in-law who had been planning on having kids before he and Kim had broken up.

All in all, they were getting to know one another again, as they were now, but colored with the relationship of the past… a good basis for trying things again, they both thought separately. If the other realized that their thoughts were shared, they didn’t question it.

When the waiter returned with two steaming plates, Kim’s eyes lit up. After he set them down, Kim took up her fork and dug in quickly, both hungry from the day’s early fight and the smell of the food itself.

“Oh, that’s good,” she said, taking a bite of her enchilada.

“Exactly why I brought you here.”

“You’re going to have to keep me away from here, or I’m gonna need to hit the gym for four hours every day to work off all the food I’d want to eat from this place.”

“I promise I will only let you come if I’m with you.”

“Is that a subtle hint that you want to go out again?”

“I didn’t think it was that subtle. And yeah… I got the impression that this was going… well,” Tommy nearly stammered.

“Very well. And yes, we can do this again. We can do this tomorrow if you want.”

“Kim…”

“I… I mean…” she stammered now, and Tommy reached across the table quickly to cover her hand with his.

Where his hand touched hers, they both would have sworn they felt sparks.

“I’d love nothing more than to see you 24/7, but I think we both should take this slow.”

Kim nodded. “My heart getting ahead of my head.”

“Just keep it headed that direction, okay? We’ll be there soon enough,” he said with a tremor in his voice.

With that, he withdrew his hand and they settled into eating. Between bites they talked some more, sliding into Tommy’s work at the school and the kids. Once that subject came up, Conner, Ethan and Kira became the topic, and they gave their impressions of the new rangers.

Finally their meal finished and Tommy paid the check, despite Kim’s objections. He escorted her out and drove them back to her new place. Getting out, he found Kim had gotten out before he could come and help her, and gave her a slight grin. Not much has changed… she was as independent one minute as she was girly the next.

Something that he still loved about her.

He unconsciously licked his lips at the thought, and walked over to guide her to her front door.

“I guess this is it,” Tommy said, but with a loving tone that she remembered from so long ago, and it made her shiver.

“I guess so. It looks like some things aren’t going to repeat themselves… we just got through a date without being interrupted.”

“I guess Mesogog was nice enough to lick his wounds tonight after our general ass kicking of Zeltrax and his son.”

“Hopefully we can keep this streak going,” Kim suggested with a smile.

“How about we tempt fate next Saturday?”

“You got it handsome.”

Tommy’s face went pale for a moment at her old term of endearment. He watched he face take on a fearful look, and knew he needed to say something quick.

“Sounds good Beautiful.”

He watched as her eyes watered slightly and she graced him with a shining smile that he remembered in his fondest dreams.

“So… going?”

“Yeah… but, do I get a first date good night kiss?” he asked, pushing his luck.

Nodding, she leaned up and met his rapidly descending face and they brushed their lips together for the first time in what now felt like eons. That first touch sparked to life a hunger that they’d long suppressed, and Tommy brought a hand to cup Kim’s cheek, the other wrapping around her waist as her mouth opened under his and they intensified the sensation. Kim’s hands fisted in Tommy’s shirt as she held on, letting their combined emotions take them over the edge.

Seconds became minutes, and finally Tommy eased back, breaking the seal they’d made between their lips, and watching Kim take in a deep breath as he did too.

He had to go now, or things were going to get out of hand…

“I think I should go.”

“Probably…”

“Goodnight Kim.”

“Night Tommy. Drive safe.”

With that, she opened her door and closed it behind her, leaving Tommy standing outside, a brilliant grin on his face and he turned back to his car with a skip in his step that he’d never thought to have again.


	6. Play with Fire

“So, how did it go?” asked Jason as he sat at the kitchen table in ‘their’ place as he watched Tommy stumble in to get his morning coffee.

“Jesus Jase, it’s seven am. Could you possibly wait until noon before you grill me about Kim?”

Tommy headed directly to open the cupboard with his cups in it and pulled out a clean cup. Reaching over, Jason pulled the coffee pot and poured some of the beverage he’d made an hour ago into the cup in his friend’s hand. Settling back, Jason sipped his own coffee while his best friend gulped his down.

“Okay, fine… I’m awake.”

“Did you kiss her?”

“Good God, are we in high school again?” Tommy complained with a sigh as he sat down across from his best friend.

“You did! I am calling Trini and telling her I so told her so.”

“What?”

“I told her after we got here that it was only a matter of time before one or the other of you broke down and stopped being an ass. I had the feeling it would be Kim though…” Jason remarked with a smirk.

“If you want to know the truth, it was her fault…”

“Do tell…”

“Hell no. Besides, you have yet to tell me what’s going on with you and Trini,” fired back Tommy after drinking some more coffee.

“Nothing anymore. We dated a bit, but we’re too much like brother and sister, literally. The idea of kissing her was okay, but anything beyond that made me a bit creeped out.”

“So, then if I was to ask about that hug with Hayley yesterday…”

Jason glanced down at his coffee cup briefly before looking up with a challenging look.

“I would tell you you’re delusional and call Kim to tell her to run for the hills.”

“You don’t play fair,” complained Tommy, now feeling like he had the advantage.

“And you’re saying this like you expected differently? We’ve been friends since the day you joined the team, and I respected you before that. You called me to become the gold ranger, remember? You and I know each other too well by now. Which is why I know that I should probably move out as soon as I can find a place.”

“What? Why?”

“Because the last thing I want to hear is you and Kim going at it like rabbits,” he replied, hiding a huge grin behind his cup.

Tommy spat his coffee out across the table and Jason only grinned wider.

“Shit Jason! We… I…we just got back together!”

“Yeah, yeah, but it will be soon enough.”

They didn’t say anything more, and sat in companionable silence. As Tommy watched his friend, he remembered he was going to ask about his situation, which was very different from Kim’s.

“I saw that you still have your suitcases by the bedroom door. Are you leaving for Angel Grove any time soon? I’d understand that you needed to get back to check on your business, take care of things so you can come back...”

“Maybe in a week or so, I’m not sure yet. I talked with Trini and she said that she and Rocky have things under control.”

“I still can’t believe you hired Rocky as a foreman,” Tommy commented with a smile, recalling the joking red ranger.

“He’s a good guy, and he keeps the crew working hard. Besides, he made a good replacement for me back then; he makes a good foreman for me now.”

“I have to tell you, when you told me a few years ago that you were starting a construction company, I thought you’d lost your mind.”

“It was a great opportunity. We’ve really expanded and because we’re small, we get a lot of private jobs and repair business,” Jason remarked proudly.

“Still, you’re a successful business owner, and not of a dojo. I wouldn’t have expected…”

“Well, no one would have expected Dr. Thomas Oliver, now would they?”

“Touché. So, I have to prep for my classes and then do some work on the zord controls. How about we catch dinner tonight?”

“You buying or cooking?” asked Jason with nervous voice.

“Does it matter?”

“If you’re cooking, yes. I would like to skip the bout of food poisoning.”

“Fine… we’ll go out.”

Jason laughed and saluted his friend with his mug of coffee as he got up and headed back to his room to get ready for the day, leaving Tommy behind, sighing into his own cup at how things had gotten so complicated and so simple with the return of his best friend and non-ex-girlfriend.

-x-

“Come on. Oh no you didn’t… Eat laser, you intergalactic freak!” yelled Ethan as he sat behind his laptop, playing his space combat video game at his spot in the cyberspace Sunday afternoon.

Beside him, sitting at the ‘ranger’ table, Conner and Kira attempted to keep working and ignore Ethan. It was getting harder to do as Ethan got progressively louder and more excited as he kept winning…

“Yeah!”

“Dude, do you mind?” Conner asked, leaning over to where Ethan was playing at the nearby table.

“Made it to level 12!” called out Ethan, oblivious of Conner’s question, presence or general state of annoyance at his game playing.

Frustrated, Conner reached over and hit the power off button on Ethan’s laptop, effectively removing the distraction and getting Ethan exasperated at Conner.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“I can’t concentrate with you blowing up things in my ear,” complained Conner.

“But it took me three hours to get to that level.”

“Sorry, but I’m with Conner on this. We’ve got a paper due tomorrow,” said Kira from her side of the table. “And why aren’t you working on yours?”

“Finished it last week. Trent and I jammed on them while you were being David Beckham and Po…”

“Don’t even say it!” Kira threatened.

“I wasn’t going to,” Ethan replied as he turned back towards his laptop with a smug grin on his face.

Feeling ever so unnerved by Ethan’s near comment, Kira glanced around the café, looking for something to sidetrack her thoughts. A missing person brought her up short.

“Where’s Trent? I thought he was working today.”

“Hayley gave him the day off. I think he’s spending some quality time with his dad,” snipped Conner, still bitter about Mercer’s near take over of the cyberspace.

“Oh…”

“Come on, we need to get back to these papers.”

“And I have to get back to level 12…”

Kira and Conner sighed, and focused on their papers as Ethan booted his laptop back up again, wondering when they were going to admit what everyone else saw.

-x-

“So what’s up?” Conner asked as they huddled around the egg they’d rescued during their Monday field trip with Dr. O at the archeological dig that Principal Randall had felt compelled to come along for.

“You got anything?” questioned Kira.

“I don’t know. Something’s not right,” commented Ethan as he continued to scan the egg as the team looked on. “I can’t detect any signs of life.”

“That’s weird. I’m sure that’s a Dimetrozord egg,” said Tommy.

“Dimetrozord?”

“It’s developed from a Dimetrodon. It’s really amazing.”

“That would explain why the TyranoDrones want it,” suggested Kira.

“Yeah.”

Tommy moved to use the console to review the data he was getting and the others watched Ethan continued to scan and poke the egg. Half an hour into the search for answers, the back door of the cave opened up and Jason and Kim walked in.

“Hey you two. Come to join the fun?” asked Conner as he looked up from the work bench.

“Sorry, we didn’t know you were up to something… I was writing when Jason called from the store and suggested he pick me up and bring me over. What’s that?” questioned Kim as she and Jason moved to the table where the dino egg sat.

“We think it’s a dinozord egg, but we can’t seem to get a reading on it. We found it earlier during the field trip…” Ethan explained as he waved the scanner over it again.

“Cool… so this is where the zords came from?” Jason asked, but didn’t get a chance to answer as Tommy turned from where he was sitting at the control console, a very strange look on his face.

“This is weird… I’m still getting a heat signal from the dig site where we found the egg.”

“But the egg’s not there anymore,” commented Kira, confused now as well.

“Maybe there’s another?” Ethan offered.

“I better go check it out. You guys stay here and keep analyzing this one.”

“Bro, you want some company?” queried Jason, moving a step towards the black ranger.

“No, I’m good. You help them figure out what that is.”

Jason nodded and watched Tommy head out the back door at a run. The three teens were staring at the

“Do you think maybe the TyranoDrones were a distraction?” asked Conner to no one.

“What do you mean?” Kim asked.

“That maybe they switched eggs…” Kira offered, getting the drift of Conner’s line of thought.

“Wouldn’t Tommy have noticed?” Jason questioned.

“Well, the way Principal Randall was throwing herself at him, and needing him to protect her…”

“What?” Kim said in a nearly shrill tone.

“Uh…” Kira stammered, and looked to Conner and Ethan to get her foot out of her mouth.

“You brought it up,” Conner stated, looking to the purple ranger and realizing that the history he had heard of from Jason and Hayley about Dr. O and Kimberly’s relationship must have vastly changed very recently.

“Principal Randall went on the dig with us. She seemed to be very attentive to Dr. O, and when the TyranoDrones attacked, he had to keep her from getting hurt.”

“She seemed very appreciative…” suggested Conner, looking at Kim as he said it, her face going pale, then turning red.

“Conner!” Kira and Ethan yelled together, shocked their team mate could have said anything so…

Kim stormed off to the stairs, Jason staring after her briefly before turning to the rest of the team.

“You guys keep at it. I need to talk to Kim.”

Quickly Jason followed the same path his friend and team mate had taken. Upstairs in the living room, he found Kim pacing back and forth, muttering about jerk and hussy and a string of swear words that would have made a sailor blush.

“Kim?”

“I cannot believe that…” she started, and then exhaled loudly, moving to flop heavily on the couch, Jason trailing behind her.

“Calm down Kim, it’s not like he did anything.”

“That’s not the point. He… shouldn’t he have said something? I mean he should have at least told her he was dating someone. Instead… she probably thinks he’s playing hard to get.”

“Are you sure you’re not blowing this out of proportion? I mean, this isn’t the first time you perceived your boyfriend was being hit on by another woman,” Jason reminded her, and found himself on the receiving end of a glare for his troubles.

“We just got back together… did he not think I’d hear about this?”

“I don’t think he thought it was anything. You know Tommy. How long did it take him to get the hint you were interested? If Zack and I hadn’t pushed him, I doubt he ever would have asked you out that first time.”

Kim closed her eyes and rubbed her face with her hands. Jason was right, Tommy had always been oblivious, to her, to Kat… no doubt the thing with Randall was nothing, but…

“You’re probably right. But when he gets back…we’re clearing this up. Either we’re doing this or we’re not.”

Sighing, Jason nodded in understanding, knowing better than to argue with her at this point. He just hoped that Tommy took a while or that some monster showed up to give her some time to cool off.

Of course, as his gauntlet and Kim’s chimed and the kids downstairs yelled about Elsa having faked the egg, he knew that he really needed to watch what he wished for.

-x-

“Tommy?” Kim began to start as she stood in the cave basement following the battle.

She’d hung back, waiting for the after-action de-brief and for everyone to clear out before she broached the subject of them and Randall. Slowly she shuffled towards him, waiting for him to acknowledge her.

“Yeah Kim?” Tommy asked as he looked up from where he was sitting at the command center console. “What’s up?”

“I… you… she…” Kim stammered, and then focused her thoughts. “Do you want to date other people?”

Tommy’s mouth fell open and his hand nearly knocked over the tea glass he had sitting next to him on the console. He was stunned, and his confusion at Kim’s question knocked every other thought out of his head.

“Whoa, wait a second… where did this come from?”

“Conner, Kira and Ethan were discussing Principal Randall’s… attentions towards you during the dig today…”

Her words immediately reminded him of Principal Randall’s behavior, and he knew immediately that Kim was thinking the worst. Hurriedly he got up and made his way to her side, using his hand to tip up her head which had fallen forward, embarrassingly avoiding his gaze.

“I mean, if you don’t want to date just me, that’s fine, or if you don’t want to date me anymore, that’s okay, I just…” she mumbled, tears starting to fill her eyes, her anger having given way for her fear.

Before she could say another depressing, self-depreciating word, Tommy cupped her face with both hands and kissed her soundly. Under his passion, Kim fell into the kiss, expressing her feelings with her lips and tongue. Finally, Tommy eased back, breaking the kiss and looking at Kim’s flushed face. When her eyes opened to meet his, he smiled softly.

“I’m not interested in anyone but you. I learned my lesson from Kat and the other women that came in and out of my life that there’s only one woman I could ever, truly want, body and soul… and that’s you.”

“Oh.”

He smirked, having kissed and stunned the words right out of her. He’d have to mark his calendar; this was a moment to remember.

“You were jealous,” he stated with a slight ribbing in his voice, and she shrugged guitily.

“I just got you back, I went a little crazy.”

“I understand. I can’t imagine what I’d do if our positions were reversed.”

“Beat the guy up?” she offered with a hint of a grin.

“Hey, I have an education now, I don’t use violence to solve my problems. No, I probably would have gotten Ethan and Hayley to wipe his bank records and make him a wanted felon.”

“That’s mean.”

“But oh so worth it. I just got you back Beautiful. And now that I have, I’m keeping you. That okay with you?” he asked, his hands burrowing in her caramel colored hair.

“Perfectly.”

He nodded before leaning in to kiss the woman he was beginning to love once again.

-x-

The evening crowd was dwindling down, and Conner looked around the cyberspace to note that no nosy reporters were around to make a mess of things like they tried with Dr.O. Turning back to the table, he watched Kira scribble some notes in her binder, more than likely new song lyrics. Kim had promised to sit with her and look at them, like a songwriter workshop and see if anything was good enough for her to suggest to her own agent for the aspiring singer.

As she brought her pencil up to her mouth, the eraser finding its way to her lips, and Conner fought to not lick his own lips at the thought of finding out how soft they were. But before he could do that, he had to find out if she even thought of him that way…

“Hey Kira… I was wondering,” Conner started, scooting his chair closer to where she sat, and her head came up to regard him thoughtfully.

“What?”

He swallowed hard, and then took a deep breath before just blurting it out.

“Would you go to the movies with me?”

Kira felt her fingers go numb and the pencil fell from them to clatter on the table. Her eyes went wide and she stared at Conner in shock.

“You… you’re asking me out, on a date?”

“Yeah… I like you, and I thought maybe…”

Before Kira could answer, suddenly there was a bump into the table, and Trent spilled a tray of sodas that he was carrying all over Conner.

“Oh, sorry man,” Trent said apologetically, glancing away to Kira as Conner jumped up and brushed at the sticky mess all over him.

“It’s okay. These tables are really packed in here today. I’ll just go get cleaned up.”

Conner shot Kira a smile and headed off to the restroom to get cleaned up. Trent hurriedly picked up the glasses and watched Kira focused on where Conner had gone.

“So, you gonna accept?” Trent asked her suddenly, startling her.

“What?” she said, bringing her attention to the dark haired Hispanic man.

“Conner’s invitation. I sort of overheard him before I knocked into…”

Kira nodded, realizing that for him to be close enough to dump the sodas on Conner that he probably had heard some of the conversation. There was no harm in telling him what she was going to tell Conner when he got back…

“I was thinking that I might.”

“Oh.”

“Why?” asked Kira, curious at his response.

“It’s just… well, I was hoping maybe we could, you know, have coffee or go to a show or…” Trent ventured, his face a mask of fear.

Kira looked at Trent with sudden surprise. Sure, there had been the drawing, and how he’d complimented her, but she’d had no idea he was really interested in her; that he wanted to date her. And now with her growing attraction to Conner, she didn’t know if she felt that way about Trent…

“Oh, that’s… very sweet. Maybe, if things don’t work out with Conner…” Kira said, leaving unspoken the rejection of his offer.

“Okay, well, I have to get that batch of drinks. I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah.”

Hurriedly Trent rushed off to the counter just as Conner came back from the bathroom. He watched Trent leave and moved to sit in the chair beside Kira that wasn’t covered with soda. He looked her in the eyes, hoping to see something there that he’d thought he’d seen a flicker of before.

“So, you think you could lower your standards and date a guy like me?” asked Conner with a self-depreciating tone, his hand cradling the back of his chair, preparing to leave as soon as she shot him down..

“I’d like to go out with you very much,” Kira answered finally, covering his hand with hers and making Conner’s eyes bug slightly.

“Cool. You get to pick the movie… just nothing too girly, please?”

“Fine, but you have to buy the popcorn.”

“It’s a date.”

At the counter, Trent watched and fumed at his bad timing.


	7. On the Dark Side

“So, we have to find a way to destroy them,” Mesogog hissed at his minions, his frustration with the rangers growing daily.

“Master, it’s not that easy. They are very skilled, and they seem to be aware of our every plan,” said Elsa fearfully.

“It is Oliver and his friends. Their history as rangers is serving them well, and aiding in the new brat’s development,” Zeltrax pointed out.

Mesogog tilted his reptilian head and pondered this. It made sense in a way… much as his own knowledge helped him, Oliver and his friends were a formidable foe due to their experience. Perhaps what was needed was to limit that experience somewhat.

He wandered over to a shielded case, the dull metal box sitting alone in a corner. His TyranoDrones had unearthed it at his request when he realized that the power he needed was in the stones that Oliver and his female assistant had found. However this one was unlike the others. It held power, but a negative power, capable of unknown destruction.

In his attempts to destroy the rangers, he had yet to utilize it. But now, he realized that just making a weapon of it would not do. He needed to break the ranger’s ranks. He popped the latch to the box and pried open the lid, staring down at the item inside, as the light from around it dimmed.

Carefully he removed the crystal clear stone from the box, and turned to his cronies, holding the item carefully between his claws.

“Elsa. You are to take this to Dr. Oliver’s residence. Leave it for him to find.”

“What is it?”

“It is the one thing that he least expects… his own nightmare.”

-x-

Having been inside for way too long, Jason picked up his cell phone and started for the door of the house he was sharing with Tommy while he was in Reefside, fighting the good fight. With Tommy in class and Kim working on finishing the chorus of her latest song, he was pretty much up to his own devices. He figured that he had time to call and check in on Rocky, Trini and the crew; make sure the Williams project was going as planned and see if they had any new business bids he had to attend to.

Looking at the beautiful California day, he slipped his hands free headset over his ear and hit the speed dial for the office as he turned and headed into the forest behind the house.

“Scott Construction,” said a soft voice from the other end of the line that surprised him.

“Trini, hey, it’s me. What, is Linsey on lunch?”

“Hi Jason. No, she got called to jury duty, so I offered to come in and cover.”

“Thanks. So how’s business? Did Rocky destroy anything this week?” asked Jason with a laugh.

“No… everything’s fine. How about I go get him for you?”

“Okay… hold up a minute though. I wanted to tell you something. You know you’re great, right?”

“Jason, this isn’t the whole ‘let’s date’ thing again, is it? We tried that last year…”

“Not exactly… I just, I want to make sure you’re okay with…” Jason started before a loud crash could be heard from the other end of the line. “Trini?”

“Just Rocky making as much noise as he can coming in to get coffee. It’s the boss,” she said, and Jason heard the phone being handed over to his friend and employee.

“Jase! Hey, we just got the new permits for the Franklin building. I’ll get started next week, if that’s okay?”

“That’s good news. You know the work schedules… if you need to wait until you finish the Williams place…”

“No, we’re almost done. Maybe Thursday at the latest. So, how are our former fearless leader and Kimmie getting along?”

“I’m counting the days till they start shagging in the command center. It’s so weird… like they picked up where they started from.”

“You mean after the name calling and the bruised egos,” Rocky pointed out.

“True.”

“When will you be back? It’s not that Trini and I can’t keep things running here, but it would be nice to have the boss around… although we understand that duty comes first.”

Jason sighed at that. He felt divided by loyalties in different directions. Sure, Tommy had needed him, but did he need him now? Maybe he wanted to relive his ranger past a little too much to escape his present.

But then there was Hayley… and he seemed to be needed…

“Maybe next week for a few days if things stay quiet; you know how it is.”

“That I do boss man. Tell Tommy hey from me and that he better not screw things up with Kim again, or I am breaking the man rule and asking her out. She deserves someone who will treat her right, and if Tommy isn’t interested…” laughed Rocky, knowing that Kim has always been one of the more desirable women that most of the guys had ever met, and more than a few of them were still jealous of the torch Kim carried for Tommy even after the break up.

Hell, if he had to admit it, he was one of them. True, his relationship with Kimberly was like brother and sister, but he always wondered if Tommy hadn’t entered the picture that fateful day at the martial arts event in Angel Grove back in high school if they might have had a chance to be something more. Instead, he had become the best friend to both of them, helping Tommy with Kim, and then being there for both of them when Kim screwed them both up.

“Jase?” Rocky called out over the phone, and Jason shook his head to clear it, not realizing he’d spaced out.

“Sorry, just thinking,” he explained as he stretched his arms over his head and forced back a yawn, his feet still moving him across the dirt path through the trees.

Suddenly a rush of wind and a crackle of electricity filled the air, and Jason knew that he was about to have company. Before him, maybe twenty feet away an invisiportal opened up, and from it Elsa appeared with a few TyranoDrones.

The dark eyed villainess stopped in her tracks. She had chosen the closest portal to Dr. Oliver’s house, intent on breaking into it and leaving the crystal, per Mesogog’s direction. Instead, she had stumbled on one of the rangers.

“Rocky, I gotta go. Call you later,” Jason said quickly, hanging up and dropping into battle stance. “You’re on private property here lady. You know what they say – trespassers will be prosecuted. And I’m the law.”

“There’s only one of you…”

“That’s more than enough for just you and your goons.”

“Attack!” she cried out, pointing her sword at Jason.

With a flurry of windmill like blows, the TyranoDrones attacked, sending Jason backpedaling. He hadn’t been up against these things alone before, but he knew that he could handle himself. If things got too tough, he could call on Kim.

Blocking another strike, Jason lashed out with a series of quick punches, sending several of the creatures back. With the break in the attack, he rushed forward and with the surprise move, landed a snap kick to Elsa’s chest, sending her flying backwards.

Within seconds he was immediately converged on, and he dropped to the ground, trying to use his camouflaging skills to disappear into the dirt. The TyranoDrones looked confused, and then Elsa fired off a shot in his direction, sending him rolling to his right, and into three of the foot soldiers, alerting them to his presence.

Quickly he dropped his cloaking powers and began hand to hand with the TyranoDrones, keeping himself from getting too banged up and sending a few of them flying.

He rushed to engage Elsa again, landing a kick to her shoulder, and she growled at him as her arm went swinging backwards. Jason thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye go flinging from her hand, but had to retreat when her sword swung out and slashed at his previous location.

Behind him, the TyranoDrones were starting to mass again, and Jason was getting tired of fending them off. Just before they charged, he went camouflaged again, and skirted to the side as they rushed headlong into Elsa. They crumpled to the ground in a tangled heap, and Elsa cursed loudly.

“Get off me!” she yelled, and looked around fruitlessly for something. Finally she grumbled, “We’re leaving!”

With another invisiportal appearing, Elsa and the TyranoDrones disappeared, leaving Jason alone once again. With a thought, he disillusioned himself and walked over to where she and the bad guys had just left from while noting the brown earth covering parts of his clothing with a sigh.

“Way too easy. Just a hit and run,” he complained as he wiped at some dirt on his jeans and white t-shirt. “I see what Kim meant about keeping the white clean.”

Laughing, he started to turn when a dark flash caught his eye. Confused, he headed back to where Elsa had been standing when he’d snap kicked her arm. In the dirt and grass, there was something. Kneeling down, he scooped up the crystal like item, almost like his gem stone, but totally clear.

The moment his fingers touched the crystal, he knew he’d screwed up.

With a scream, Jason felt an energy crackle along his arm. Similar but totally unlike the dino gem on his wrist, it felt like someone was electrocuting him. His eyes shut and he smelled the charred smell of burning hair as the negative power seared him.

The energy within the unknown crystal was warping his senses, and along with that, the white dino gem’s power. The negative power in the crystal was seeping through his skin, into his very being, and if he understood clearly under the unbearable pain, the new power was burrowing into him, to the spot where his dino thunder power resided, and was blending together...

With a final cry, he fell to the ground, his body convulsing still from the power struggle that it had been through. After long minutes, his eyes slowly opened and he struggled to sit up. His wrist burned where the gauntlet sat, and he glanced down at it. Within the silver metal, the white stone that was the sum of his powers was now clouded with black… the result being a grayish mass that almost twisted as Jason stared at it.

And unknowing to him, the same black swirl appeared in his own eyes.

As he watched the building dark in the once pure white stone, an evil smirk twisted his mouth and he took a deep breath.

He was free.

He was evil.

Damn, it felt good.

With a careless flick, he tossed his phone from his hip pocket to the ground and plucked the receiver from his ear and dropped it as well.

“White Ranger, power up!”

With his transformation complete, the white ranger stood in the forest, staring at the place that Elsa had just escaped through. His eyes swiveled and looked around the forest, considering his next move, his desires… and behind his helmet he smiled evilly, his mind suddenly made up.

“Well, I guess it’s time to see who the real ranger is,” Jason said, his armor now in place before he vanished into thin air.

-x-

The three teens had arrived to take on the dandelion creature, tossing back and forth barbs. As they got up from the first blast, they watched as Jason whipped around at Conner like speeds around the monster. Instead of slowing and joining them, they watched as the monster burst into pieces.

“Whoa!”

“Jason?” Tommy questioned from his spot at the command center, having waited to see what was going on before calling Jason and Kim to join the others and him in the field.

Jason sped off, and Conner, Kira and Ethan pursued, trying to figure out what was going on when they found the white ranger waiting for them. They skidded to a halt, but fell into battle stance. At the command center, Tommy had called Kim and was chomping at the bit to join them, but wanted to wait for Kim…

“You three, don’t come any closer. You’ll force me to do something I don’t want to do.”

“What do you mean by that?” Conner asked, confused.

“Let me show you,” replied the white ranger, unsheathing his drago dagger. “White Drago sword. Laser arrows. Fire!”

Suddenly, the three were struck over and over with the laser arrows, sending them flying to the ground. They sat up slightly, stunned by the fact that their friend and ally had just attacked them.

Behind them, Kim and Tommy raced in from almost no where. The two former pink and green rangers stood there watching the uniform of the white ranger, who had just laid out Ethan, Conner and Kira without a second thought with memories of times long past and other rangers that had gone bad.

“Ah, my old friends,” Jason said, his voice thickly spitting out the word friend. “Come to get your asses handed to you too?”

“Jase, what are you doing?” Tommy questioned, slowly moving past the teens and towards Jason.

“I’m making up for all the years I played by the rules. And if you’re wise, you’d advice your new disciples to stay out of the way, or I’ll have to destroy them along with you two.”

“Jason?” Kimberly began, moving to join Tommy when their friend’s voice cut through the air, and them again.

“That was just a warning. Next time, we’ll finish this.”

With that, Jason disappeared with a wave of his sword, leaving behind the confused and aching teens and Tommy and Kimberly who looked to one another with fear and pain in their eyes.

-x-

The team hurriedly made their way to the command center, finding Hayley already trying to use the computers to figure out what had occurred. Tommy and Kim moved to join her at the console, and she looked to each of them in turn, watching the pain etched on their faces.

Behind them, Kira, Conner and Ethan rushed up and huddled around the screen.

“What just happened out there?” asked Conner, still shocked at the former red and gold ranger’s attack on them.

“Was that Jason?” Ethan questioned.

“But he’s… evil,” Kira pointed out, confused by the white ranger’s appearance.

At their words, Tommy leaned heavily against the console, and Kim moved to stand behind him, wrapping her arms around his stomach.

“Are we sure it’s him?” Hayley asked, her voice showing her concern more than her actions.

Kim nodded her head, and Tommy’s fell farther forward.

“How did it happen?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Could it be something like what happened to you, or more like what happened to him and me when you rescued us from Muranthias?” Kim suggested, remembering the fire of Maligore in her veins.

Tommy turned in Kim’s arms and looked at her seriously. A shadow that Kim remembered from Tommy’s past showed in his eyes again, and her heart felt like it would break in her chest.

“He’s not himself, that’s for sure,” said Conner unhappily.

“He can’t help it!” lashed out Tommy, as he jumped from Kim’s side to stand before the team. “He’s possessed or under a spell or something. I’ve known Jason too long to not know that he’s not in control.”

“So what do we do?” questioned Ethan desperately, “’Cause it looks like were in some serious shit… I mean trouble.”

“We find a way to get him back.”

“Too late… he’s already back,” Hayley pointed out, looking to the screen where Jason had appeared again, the team rushing to see the white ranger land in the middle of the downtown.

“We’d better get over there and make sure he doesn’t go medieval on any civilians,” Tommy said with a pained voice.

“Good thinking. Let’s go guys,” urged Conner.

Conner headed for the door, Ethan and Kira right behind him. Kim began to follow, and turned to see Tommy as he laid a hand on Hayley’s shoulder.

“Start looking for a reason… anything. We have to get Jason back.”

Nodding, Hayley watched as Tommy jogged to catch up with Kim, and then once they were all gone, she focused her attention to her readouts, her hands flying across the keyboard frantically trying to find what did this to Jason.

-x-

Conner stumbled back into the cave, his arm around Kira as she clutched her side. Ethan trailed behind them, holding his left arm in his good hand. They’d been beaten badly in their fight with Jason, and in the process lost their powers.

Hayley’s eyes went wide as she saw the condition of the teens as they came through the back door. Standing, she moved quickly to briefly check them all over, finding bruises and scratches, but no serious injuries, and they all either sat or collapsed in spots in the command center near the far wall.

Turning away from them, Hayley watched in horror as Tommy and Kim staggered in, the two of them looking not just beat up, but beaten down. They moved right past her and towards the others.

“It wasn’t supposed to go this way, was it?” Ethan asked Tommy and he sat beside the rest of the team, Kim nearly collapsing at his feet.

“An evil white ranger? Jason… evil? No, it wasn’t. Of course, it’s been known to happen,” said Tommy with a voice thick with grief and remembrance of when he was the evil ranger.

“We saved you,” Kim whispered as she laid a hand on Tommy’s leg. “We’ll save Jason too.”

“So, what do we do?” questioned Kira.

“How are we supposed to help him if we can’t get near him?” queried Conner, looking to Tommy and Kim.

“We figure out how this happened and how to reverse it before it’s too late.”


	8. Bad Moon Rising

“This isn’t what I asked for!” roared Mesogog as he used his brain waves to discipline Elsa, sending the dark haired woman to her knees.

“Master, my apologies. He attacked us and I lost the crystal. I tried to locate it, but had to retreat. The white ranger must have found it.”

In a rare display of mercy, Mesogog released her, continuing to rant.

“Oliver was supposed to find it. He was to relive his worst moments as he turned evil again. Instead… “

With a wave of his arm he smashed an array of beakers and potions that lay on the counter closest to him, showering the floor and Elsa with broken glass and liquid. Elsa cringed even more as she wiped the multi colored ooze from her shoulders while Zeltrax moved forward now that his master had vented most of his anger.

“My lord, perhaps this is a stroke of good fortune. His inability to save the white ranger may drive him to make a deal with you to save him,” Zeltrax suggested, his head bowing in acknowledgement of his lord.

Mesogog looked at Zeltrax and tilted his head. He had not even considered the emotional trauma Oliver would suffer as the white ranger, his friend, attacked and attempted to destroy the rangers. And to possibly have to destroy him to stop him… it was better than he’d planned.

“Yess, perhaps you are right. Just to be sure that the white ranger is truly on our side of things, we should contact him and see if he will guarantee the ranger’s demise for a place with us.”

With that, Mesogog grinned brightly, his pointed teeth making both his minions cringe.

-x-

“Tommy?” called out Kim as she climbed the stairs to the main area of Tommy’s house.

A house he normally shared with Jason.

Kim had been waiting to get him alone to see how he was really doing. The act they both had put on downstairs had been for everyone else’s benefit, and perhaps slightly for each other’s. But the truth was that they both were feeling Jason’s loss in similar yet different ways. And Tommy would be sliding into his guilt without a net unless she reminded him that she was there for him, however he needed her to be.

“Tommy, where are you?” she said again when only silence greeted her earlier request.

Kim was reluctant to simply walk through the house looking for him. He didn’t seem to have put on any lights after coming upstairs after sending the others home and she wasn’t that familiar with the layout that she could walk through the house in the dark, and didn’t want to turn on the lights.

“I’m in here.”

A light appeared in the back room, illuminating the hallway. Moving along the corridor, she found him in the place should have expected him to be in; the spare bedroom where Jason had been spending the last week weeks. She sat beside him on the plain bed and reached for his hand. As her fingers slid around his, she felt his grasp tighten almost painfully around her hand.

“How are you hanging in?” she whispered, her head leaning close to his shoulder.

“Do you really need me to answer that?” he answered darkly, not looking at her, but getting as close to her as he could.

“No, not really.”

“Jase…”

Kim nodded, not trusting her voice to say the words again. Jason was evil. Like before. Like Tommy so many years earlier. And with that came a terrible choice… how to stop him before he did something that he’d have to live with forever.

“I can’t help but feel like this is somehow my fault.”

“How could it be?” she asked in stunned disbelief.

“You and Jase are here because of me. If I hadn’t let myself get captured…” he started his head turning and his chocolate gaze piercing her even in the dimly lit room, causing her to gasp slightly.

“Don’t finish that… don’t even suggest that you could have prevented getting captured, when you didn’t even have powers. And you know that Jason would have done anything to help you. Even if it had been simply a matter of you needing another ranger when the white gem was found, he would have come if you had asked him, not caring about the consequences.”

“And because of that, he’s going to kill us unless I stop him.”

“We stop him,” Kim corrected him. “You remember how he was when Maligore took him over. Just like me, we both had flaws that allowed you to break the spell…”

“Larigot broke the spell on you. All I did was make you mad,” Tommy reminder her with a defeated tone.

“But you broke the spell on Jason, remember?” she replied, pointedly ignoring her own feelings about that day, that moment when she had been freed of her anger and was returned to her guilt.

Tommy went silent, remembering the sensation of being choked by Jason, the pit’s rock border cutting into his back. He’d let loose a desperate kick that had sent his friend flying over the rim of the pit. And then he’d made a frantic catch of his wrists before he fell into the fiery pool again. The struggle to hold on to his hand as the man whom he called his best friend struggled in his grip.

If Kim hadn’t come to join him…

With Kim by his side, he felt sure that he could save Jason. Because if he didn’t, he’d have to stop him… once and for all.

“We’ll get him back…”

Kim nodded and laid her other hand on his cheek. That small gesture broke him, and Tommy released her hand to wrap his arms around her, holding her tightly. She reciprocated the gesture, holding onto the man she had lost and now found once more as they both began to accept the realities of what Jason’s situation could mean.

And their determination that they wouldn’t have to go that far.

-x-

With the light of day, everyone was hoping that their luck might change. Instead, things seemed to get worse. In the early afternoon, they’d already been in a battle with one of Mesogog’s monsters, and as it disappeared, they found themselves up against a new opponent as the Drago zord appeared on the top of a girder framed building in the downtown close to the warehouse district.

With a sudden massive wind, buildings shook and lost windows, and a high rise under construction bent under the weight of the massive winged zord that had previously fought to protect the city that it was currently menacing.

From different sides of the city, the rangers converged on the scene. Conner, Kira and Ethan in the Megazord, prepared for battle. Below on the pavement, Kim and Tommy stared upward in agonized concern at the escalation of aggression by their friend.

“Hello again rangers,” said Jason with a dark tone as he leapt to the beak of his Dragozord.

“Oh no,” Tommy breathed quietly, realizing just how much destruction an evil Jason with a zord could do, once he started focusing on the civilian population and away from the rangers.

“Dragozord, show these fools what you can do.”

Hurriedly the white ranger leapt from the zord once again to the safety of a rooftop. Once there, the wings of the zord in questioned beat furiously, the down stroke of them creating an even more furious wind than before, ripping tiles off buildings, and sending trees and cars flying.

“No!” screamed Tommy, his mind filled with fear as Jason gleefully laughed with the destruction his zord was causing.

The wind was so hard, that the Megazord staggered backwards under the onslaught.

“Hey, no need to get crazy!” exclaimed Conner from the cockpit of the Megazord as it stumbled under the gale force winds.

In the city, people were running for safety while Kim and Tommy were realizing that they had to stop Jason now.

“They need help now,” Tommy said, looking to Kim.

“Stegozord, activate,” she called out, urging her heavy zord into the battle zone, hoping to bolster the Megazord.

“I was hoping you’d do that. Stegozord, you are under my command,” Jason stated with a complicated wave of his dagger, firing a multicolored wave of light and energy at the zord.

Kim swayed dangerously as she felt her control of the Stegozord ripped from her grasp, her powers stretching to try and re-establish dominance of her zord. But Jason’s control was too much for her, and she crashed to the ground with a thud, her armor dissolving as her powers fried out.

“Kim!” Tommy screamed, dropping beside the woman he loved and checked for a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief as he found one, but the moment was soon overshadowed as he turned and looked up to see that Jason had started the Dino Stegozord formation, increasing the damage that he could cause by linking Kim’s zord with the Dragozord. “Jase, no!”

As the pieces of the two zords melded into one and Jason jumped into the command seat, Conner, Kira and Ethan stared at the new megazord, realizing that Kim’s hold on her zord had been broken.

“He stole the Stego!” yelled Conner, stunned.

“What?” Kira asked.

“How? It’s Kim’s,” added Ethan, and the three looked down to note Dr. O standing over Kim’s unmorphed form.

“Dr. O’s with her… she’ll be okay,” assured Conner.

“Not bad for an old guy, eh?” commented Jason from his newly formed zord.

With that Jason attacked, sending the Megazord staggering back before Conner could bring up the arm of the zord to block the sword strike a second time. They circled one another in the small intersection of the streets below them.

“I say we go at him full-on!” suggested Ethan.

“But it’s Jason…” Kira replied worriedly.

“Tell that to Kim,” shot back Ethan. “Tricera fist.”

The horned punch of the triceratops sent the Stego zord backwards.

“Ethan’s right. Tyrano drill!” yelled Conner as he engaged the weapon.

“Dino Stegozord stinger, intercept!” called out Jason from his own zord.

A boomerang like projectile fired forward, and as the Megazord attacked, it sliced into its mid section, exploding in a fiery mass. The three rangers on board screamed as the zord exploded into its parts, sending the teens flying to the pavement.

“Brutal!”

“You’re telling me.”

“Kira, Conner, Ethan! Are you guys all right?” asked Tommy as he raced to their sides.

‘Yeah, but our zords are seriously tweaked,” said Conner. “How’s Kim?”

“Back and ready to kick Jason’s ass,” said a voice from behind them, and they turned to see Kim back in her purple armor.

“Now I’ll take the rest of your zords,” announced the white ranger, beginning to circle his dagger in his cockpit.

“Not gonna happen,” said Tommy with a determined voice as he glanced to Kim, who nodded enthusiastically before she started pushing buttons on her morpher.

“What are you doing?” Kira asked Kim.

“Trying to break the Stegozord away,” replied Kim. “Alright Jason, give me back my zord!”

In front of them, the Stegozord crackled with purple lightning and the two zords separated as Kim took control back of her zord.

“All right!” cried out Tommy as he moved to Kim’s side again.

“Yeah!” yelled Conner.

“Good job,” said Kira and Ethan.

“You’ll pay for that,” said the white ranger as he flew off to nurse his bruised ego.

“Good save Kim.”

“Thanks.”

“I doubt that it’ll last,” tossed in Tommy. “Jason’s tapping into his power very deeply, learning things about it that I had no idea about. Next time…”

He left the rest unsaid as everyone began to understand just how much worse this could get.

-x-

“Wow, that was like the worst day ever,” remarked Conner as the team reconvened in the command center, the group unmorphed and demoralized by the afternoon’s events.

“Brutal,” agreed Ethan.

“There’s gonna be a lot of days like this guys,” Tommy explained as he walked between them to where Kim sat.

“Uh, whatever happened to “the glass is half full”?” asked Kira.

“Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s empty,” fired back Tommy in a matter of fact tone. “But that’s when you gotta dig deep. That’s when the qualities that made you Rangers become most important.”

“You’re right. What can we do?” asked Conner, straightening his back and feeling a bit surer of his role as a ranger and leader again.

“Go have a little fun. Ethan, isn’t there a new video game you want to check out?”

“I never thought I’d say this, but I have no desire to go near a computer.”

“I know what you mean. I haven’t picked up my guitar in days,” interjected Kira, and looked to Kim to see her nod in understanding.

“Go on. Teacher’s orders,” Tommy said insistently, even as they all stared at him. “Go.”

As the three started to the cave door, Tommy looked to where Kim sat, her head slumping over to catch in her hands. Today had not been a great day for her, or any of them, but seeing her unmorph and fall unconscious had reminded Tommy just how precious she was to him.

“Conner,” called Tommy, bringing the red ranger up to a sudden halt. “Don’t wait for this to be over. You need to go on with things. We all know you and Kira have a date set. You should keep it.”

“But…”

“You never know what might happen tomorrow. Live for the moment, or some day, you might regret it.”

Conner watched as Tommy’s gaze unconsciously drifted towards Kim again, and got the picture. He grinned and hurried to catch up with the others knowing that Dr. O and Kim needed to be alone. He found Kira leaning against the car door of his Mustang, as he’d brought everyone earlier in it, and Ethan hanging around the rear, as if trying to keep out of the way.

“So, did you still want to see that ‘50 First Dates’ movie tomorrow?” he asked as he moved to her side and unlocked the car door.

“But what about…”

“You heard Dr. O. He said to take a break, go have fun. We had a date…”

“Alright,” Kira said somewhat reluctantly. “I’ll meet you at seven at the cybercafé?”

“Yeah. Now let’s get you and Ethan home.”

Opening the car door, Ethan bolted past them and clamored into the back seat as Kira got in the front. Rushing to the driver’s side, Conner got in and turned over the engine, stepped on the gas and headed out onto the road, leaving Dr. O’s place behind them.

-x-

“You okay?” Tommy asked as he moved to sit beside Kim on the slab of rock in the command center basement, his arm wrapping across her back.

“Yeah. I just… bad memories.”

Tommy understood. He was having his own nightmares since Jason had gone evil. He doubted he’d had more than a few hours sleep a night since. And from the looks of it, based on the dark circles under her eyes, Kim was probably having a similarly bad time of it.

Maybe it was time for them to bring down all the barriers and let themselves take whatever measure of comfort from one another that they could find.

“Why don’t you come upstairs? You look like you could use some sleep…”

“Is your couch comfortable enough to sleep on?” Kim asked as she stood and stretched, fighting a sudden yawn.

“Actually, I was hoping you’d stay with me tonight,” he said softly, and Kim’s head whipped around.

“Tommy, you’re not…”

“Just to sleep,” he quickly said, moving to catch her hand in his. “I haven’t been sleeping well and thought maybe you were having the same kind of problems and maybe together we…”

Kim gave him a tender smile, and gripped Tommy’s hand tightly. She knew she loved this man more than anything, and he just kept making her love him that much more.

“Fine, but if you start snoring, I’m shoving you off the bed.”

He grinned and escorted her upstairs. When they got to his bedroom, Tommy moved to his dresser and found a tight t-shirt and drawstring shorts and handed them to Kim. Taking them, she moved to the bathroom to change while Tommy stripped down to his underwear, throwing on his pajama pants.

Kim came back in, sporting a slightly nervous look as she caught Tommy turning down the covers. He looked up and felt his breath catch.

“Those look good on you.”

“I feel like I’m swimming in them.”

“You could go starkers…” he suggested with a half smirk and she gave him a half hearted glare. “Come on. You can have that side.”

Kim moved to the bed and climbed in, her feet nowhere near the end of the bed. Beside her, Tommy slid in, and she noted the gap between them. Being in the same bed might help her sleep, but having his arms around her…

“You can get closer you know,” she said quietly, and she almost immediately felt the bed move.

He slid closer and she turned into him, his arms wrapping around her as she snuggled into his chest, his head resting against hers. She could feel his heart pounding in his chest along with the contented sigh that rattled his body.

“Night Tommy.”

“Good night Beautiful,” he murmured before placing a light kiss on her hair as he closed his eyes.

They both were sound asleep before they knew what had hit them.

-x-

The next evening, Kira sat at the cyberspace, drinking a smoothie as she waited for her date. Rather than do the traditional “pick up at the girl’s house” thing, they’d agreed to meet at the café at seven to leave for the movies. As she sipped through her straw the berry-mango smoothie, she nervously tapped her foot as she glanced at the clock. It was ten till and he wasn’t there yet.

Glancing away, she looked to the stage and smiled at the thought of her last performance, being applauded by Dr. O, Kim, Ethan and Conner. She felt like she’d really connected with the audience…

“Hey Kira,” said Trent, appearing from behind the counter to grab an empty chair beside her.

“Oh, hi Trent, I was just…”

“Waiting for Conner?”

Kira’s face showed the surprise she felt, and Trent smiled inwardly.

“I know. Conner called and said something came up and that he couldn’t make it.”

“He…” she started, her mind a whirlwind of emotions and her heart feeling like it was cracking.

“I don’t know. Sounded like he was busy, so he just asked I let you know.”

“Oh.”

“So, since your date flaked, do you think maybe I could take you to that movie?”

There was a long pause as Kira considered everything. First Conner had been so determined, asking her out. And then he just bailed, even after the whole ‘live for today’ speech. And then Trent was here, just like always seemed to be, and even after she’d turned him down he was trying again.

Maybe there was more to him than she gave him credit for.

“Sure, why not.”

With a grin, Trent got up and offered Kira a hand. She took it and he helped her up and they headed for the door.

And five minutes later, exactly at seven, Conner walked in, to find her not there.


	9. Beautiful Disaster

“What are you doing here?” Hayley asked as Ethan walked into the cave from the back door the following evening.

Tommy turned from where he was working on reviewing a sheaf of papers – either school work or printouts of the information Hayley had gathered on Jason. Ethan couldn’t tell which.

“I couldn’t play another video game. Any luck?”

“Not yet,” she said just when the screen before her began to flash.

Hurriedly she tabbed through the results of her latest test, trying to find out what the computer had found when she gave a little gasp. The system had finally made sense of the conflicting readings that she’d gotten from Jason in his white ranger for. The white dino gem was wrapped up with another power source, and if she had to guess, she’d say that it was evil.

“They bonded…” Hayley said in a stage whisper.

“What?” asked Tommy as his head whipped up to where Hayley sat at the console.

“Jason’s dino gem and this other power source. They are aligned so closely, but with opposite polar energy – one good and one bad. The dichotomy made them bond. That’s why Jason’s gone evil… however this power got to him, be it another gem or whatever, it was stronger than his own gem’s power. Now all I have to do is figure out how to split them, and we can get him free.”

“You really think you can figure this out?” Ethan asked, excitedly.

“I have to, don’t I?”

“Hayley, could you use some help? I could call Billy or Justin from the original and Turbo teams, see if they have any ideas,” Tommy suggested.

“I wouldn’t say no.”

“I’ll help too,” said Ethan, coming to sit with Hayley as she crunched numbers.

“When we have something, we’ll let everyone know,” she stated as she feverishly started scrolling through the diagnostics, Ethan at her side.

Tommy nodded, before he headed to his phone book to call the blue rangers who might help provide the solution Hayley needed to get Jason back.

-x-

With the final results of consulting with Billy and Justin, Hayley and Ethan asked Tommy to contact everyone for an early meeting. As everyone arrived, taking up positions around the cavern, Tommy, Kim and Ethan all noted that Conner and Kira had ended up on opposite sides of room, the chill evident between them. It confused all of them, since they knew that Conner was supposed to have taken Kira out on a date the night before. Maybe things hadn’t gone as planned…

“So, we know that something else, another power bonded with Jason’s gem,” Hayley announced, bringing everyone’s attention to her.

“That’s what made him evil?” Conner asked.

“Yes. And now we just have to keep him busy long enough for Hayley to send a specific frequency pulse that will hopefully separate the dino gem’s structure from the other malevolent force mixed with it,” explained Tommy.

“How do we do that? We can’t find him…” complained Kira, as she gave Conner a glare that had nothing to do with Jason.

“Maybe we can bring him to us,” Tommy said with a glance to Hayley, the look being caught by Kim and quickly identified as something heroic and stupid.

“No!”

“Kim…” he started as she began to move towards him angrily.

“You can’t! It’s too dangerous. We’ve all gone up against him and he keeps beating us. You’ve gone up against Jason like this before, and he beat you… when you were the green ranger, and with Malligore…”

“I have to help him Kim. If Hayley can pull the evil part of him away while I keep him occupied…”

“What? Then you win? What happens if this evil power does get split from Jason like you plan? Maybe it will immediately latch onto the closest ranger. You,” she stated flatly, her voice wavering only enough with her emotion for him that he could tell how deep her feelings ran. “How many times do you have to go through that to realize that you’re too important to risk? The team needs you. The person that should do this is someone that can be sacrificed, someone that’s dispensable; yet someone that understands Jason at his base level, and has been there for him, with him for all of it.”

Tommy watched Kim move closer and closer to him as she spoke. And when she left hanging what she was getting at, he turned red as his blood boiled in anger.

“No! No way in hell are you going up against Jason alone,” Tommy roared, and the teens and Hayley all cringed as they realized Kim’s intent as well as watched Dr. O wave his hand fiercely back and forth.

“Why not? I can handle him…”

“You think you can. You don’t know what it’s like, to be facing your friend like this. When I was evil, I barely kept from killing Jase that day on the beach.”

“But you didn’t kill him. He beat you. Good won out,” Kim insisted, and then pushed on. ”I handled you when…”

“No, you didn’t. I never…” he started, and then trailed off as the old wounds of his evil green ranger days crept up on him.

“You never went after me specifically,” Kim answered for him, grasping both his upper arms even as he had them crossed over his chest. “You always avoided me, because under the spell, you cared about me. The same thing goes for Jason… he’s my brother. I’ve known him longer than you, and been there when you weren’t. We’ve been there for each other… when I left you, when he lost his gold ranger powers; we dealt with the ramifications of being Malligore’s sacrifices together. You have to understand, it has to be me.”

“Are you sure you’re up to this Kim?” asked Hayley from her spot at the console, prompting the purple ranger to turn her gaze to the technical genius among them.

“I have to be.”

Kim turned back to look Tommy straight in the eyes. Finally, a slight nod and his eyes drifting away from hers was all she needed to know that he had accepted her argument. He didn’t like it, but he realized the wisdom of it and had accepted it.

“Alright, what’s the plan?” asked Conner, intrigued at this new twist in the team’s dynamic.

“I go out there, and get Jason to come to me.”

Ethan, Kira and Conner all looked at one another in alarm. Kim was suggesting she become bait…

“It’s the only way.”

“If you get into trouble…” Tommy started, and Kim smiled up at him.

“I’ll call for backup if I need it. Give me a chance to stop him first. Just trust me, okay?”

He nodded, and she leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips, her feet on the tops of her toes to do it. Hurriedly Tommy wrapped his arms around her and held her close as he returned the kiss, deepening it. When they finally broke apart, Kim smiled at him and turned to race for the cave door, leaving Tommy standing there, his heart in his throat in worry and passion as the others gathered around Hayley and the monitor, waiting to see if Kim’s instincts were right.

-x-

Standing at the edge of the excavated rock pit Hayley had suggested because of its remote location, Kim stood at the edge and looked out on the gray and black expanse with trepidation. She was hoping that her bravado in the command center was going to prove right… Because Tommy did have a point, she had never single handedly gone up against him when he was evil, and she didn’t know if she really could take him or Jason in that state of mind.

With a sudden sound behind her, all thoughts went flying from her head as Jason flew at her, his white armor in place. She barely was able to move with him, her gymnastic background aiding her in twisting with the force of Jason’s lunge to engage her morpher and land on the dirt below, some twenty feet below the ledge. But the cost to armor herself had meant she hadn’t landed on her feet, and she quickly scrambled to get up.

“Tell you what,” Jason said as he stood from his crouch. “This time I’ll give you a sporting chance.”

With that, Jason laughed menacingly and tossed his Drago dagger in the air, the tip landing in the rocks some feet away from him.

“I hate to do this…”

“Oh really?”

Suddenly Jason had poured on his super speed and was rushing around Kim like a whirlwind, striking her armor and sending up sparks, knocking her to the ground.

“Looks like you’re down. You should stay there.”

Kim leapt back up and stood in combat ready mode. Then she reached for her pistol at her side, pulling it and leveling it at him.

“Just stay where you are. I don’t want to hurt you, I just…”

“Can’t fight me without a weapon?” Jason laughed, noting Kim’s gun.

“We don’t have to fight Jason. We’re both rangers… friends…” she said as she let the gun fall from her grasp to the ground.

“You’re good. I’m evil. It’s a pretty simple concept.”

“But you’re not really…”

Jason rushed her, landing a devastating punch to her chest, sending her flying backwards ten feet to land on her back.

“Get up,” Jason demanded, hauling Kim from the ground and holding one arm as he punched her in the shoulder and side repeatedly, and then landed a knee to her gut as she attempted to fight back. “Going down. Look what I found.”

Kim struggled to get up, holding her shoulder as she watched Jason advance towards her, a sword like her own suddenly appearing in his hand, reminding her of Tommy and the Sword of Darkness so many years ago.

“Jason, please… you’re not in your right mind!”

“Now, let’s not judge. Especially since I have the sword.”

Launching another attack, Jason sliced the weapon at her, contacting the armor and sending up sparks as it staggered her with its force. Finally Kim stepped forward and caught Jason’s hand in hers, angling the sword to one side.

“This is getting old. Let’s finish this once and for all!”

With that he wrenched the weapon from her grasp and sliced at her again, sending her reeling backwards, again clutching her shoulder.

“Also comes as a handy laser,” he said as he switched the sword to its gun form. “Later, ‘sis’.”

Devoid of any further emotion beside his sisterly reference, he fired repeatedly sending Kim to land on her face on the ground. Her hand clawing on the rocky surface, she shoved herself up, stunning the white ranger.

“It is so not over.”

Calling on the super dino mode without really realizing it, the diamonds along her uniform turned to bone-like spikes. The transformation complete, Kim charged, planning on getting Jason down.

“Stay back,” Jason yelled as he fired wildly at the purple ranger’s advancing form.

Kim crouched and then leapt out, striking Jason’s chest and sending through him bolts of lighting, sending the white ranger spinning in the air to land heavily on the ground.

“Wow… that was pretty impressive,” Kim stated as the spikes disappeared once again.

“You beat me at my own game. Congratulations,” said Jason as he struggled to stand. “Looks like you don’t have to worry about the white ranger anymore.”

As the last word left him, the laser gun fell from his hand and he fell backwards. Kim stared in shock, and rushed to his side.

“Jason! I didn’t mean to… are you all right?” she asked as she lifted him up as much as she could.

Suddenly the white ranger snatched up his pistol and fired, Kim’s reflexes allowing her to twist and have the blast sizzle past her and explode on the rocks behind her. He then landed another kick to her stomach and jumped to his feet, Kim following slowly. She huddled into combat stance as Jason attacked again.

“I can’t believe…”

“And here’s what you get for trying to rescue me,” he said as he fired the laser at her again, sending her sprawling, and as she clutched her chest, he picked up his Drago sword and leveled it in her direction. “You put up a pretty good fight, but now it’s over.”

Advancing on Kim with his sword, Kim was ready to call in the troops when behind them she heard the sounds of an invisportal appearing. With every ounce of strength she had left, Kim kept her head up so she could see Mesogog and Zeltrax approach.

“Don’t let me interrupt,” said Mesogog, and he walked along, hands behind his back in a casual manner.

“Mesogog,” breathed Jason, his defenses coming up in some instinctual knowledge of the evil before him.

“White ranger…”

“Get out of here Mesogog. You have nothing in common with the white ranger,” said Kim as she struggled to stand.

“Silence!” yelled Zeltrax, hitting Kim with a lightning blast that sent her flying, and when she landed, she didn’t try to rise again.

“Do not speak unless spoken to. Now, we have some business.”

“I have no business with you.”

“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll help you defeat the rest of the Power Rangers, and you can be one of my subjects when I rule the planet.”

“I’ll take a pass on that. DragoZord, on-line!”

Above them, the DragoZord appeared from out of nowhere, and Jason tipped his hand to Mesogog.

“I’m outta here.”

With that he leapt upwards and into his zord, flying off. Zeltrax and Mesogog looked at the retreating white ranger in disgust, and then directed their attention to the purple ranger still on the ground. Stepping closer, Kim struggled to get back up as Zeltrax brought his staff down to bear on her.

“Shall I finish her master?”

“No. Our new ‘friend’ seems to have a fascination with this one and Dr. Oliver. I will let her live in the hopes that she will lead us to him again.”

“Very well my lord.”

Kim’s eyesight began to grey out as she watched Mesogog and Zeltrax walk off and disappear again into another invisiportal, leaving her behind and alive. Moments later, the team was there, and Tommy kneeled by her side.

“Kimberly, Beautiful, you okay?”

“Yeah… okay, you were right,” she said mournfully as he helped her to her feet. “I nearly got my ass handed to me.”

“It could have just as easily been me,” he replied, and Kim noted how his hand slightly shook as he held her arm. “But next time… we’ll get him back.”

Nodding, Kim let him lead her back to the bikes, letting the issue drop for now as they headed for the cave. She knew that it was simply a matter of time before they talked… no, it wasn’t over in more ways than one, not by a long shot.

-x-

“Look Tommy, I know what you’re going to say…”

Kim was sitting in the command center, letting the man she loved dab antiseptic at the worst of her scratches that she’d gotten even with her armor. Luckily the laser strikes and sword slashes had been absorbed, but bruises still marked her body. She had powered down when they got back, and he had immediately gotten overprotective once he saw the bruises and scrapes.

“You could have been killed Kim. If not by Jase then by Zeltrax. You should have called us in sooner,” he said in a tired voice, laced with emotion.

“I know, I’m sorry. I wanted to try to see if I could reach him.”

“I know. And I know that you thought that you aren’t all that important in the scheme of things, that the team could do without you if something had gone wrong. But you forgot something… I need you. You’re my strength, and I don’t know what I would have done if…”

Without a moment’s thought, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, letting him crush her against him to verify her presence. In her desire to protect him, she’d forgotten how connect they were to each other’s state of mind, and how putting herself into danger had affected him.

“I know. I love you handsome. I promise to be more careful,” she said softly as she leaned back, only their hands still connected.

“Good. I…”

“Tommy?” asked Hayley, turning from the console, not realizing what she was disrupting.

“What is it?”

“I got an energy reading at the warehouse on ninth and Main. It looks like a morphing grid spike, but there’s no one there.”

“Strange. Kim, I need to check this out.”

“I’ll come with you,” she started, beginning to get up from her seat.

“No, there’s no one there. If anything happens, I’ll call,” he said simply, pushing her down with a light touch to her shoulder and smiling at her.

“Okay. Be careful.”

“I’ll be fine.”

With that, he took the backpack that Hayley was holding out to him and headed to the door.

In no time, he’d made his way to the warehouse, kicking in the boarded up door to get in. Walking through the dusty building, he stumbled on a suitcase of electrical components with wires to a handheld scanner, much like the one Conner and Kira had used to search for Jason to no avail days earlier.

A sound startled Tommy, and he turned to see Jason standing there, his armor gone and a look of confusion in his eyes.

“Jase!”

“Bro?” murmured Jason as he stumbled into a series of metal drums.

“Hold on Jase. I’ve got to get you out of here and back to the command center.”

“Aah!” screamed Jason, his back arching in Tommy’s grip as something ripped through him like it had in the forest.

The power of the merged gems lashed out and sent Tommy flying, crashing into another stack of drums as the evil energy in the gem took over once again, morphing Jason into his armor without his even activating it. Once it encased him, all semblance of the Jason that had been there a moment before was gone, and the white ranger laughed evilly.

“Oh no…” Tommy breathed lowly, his eyes going wide.

“Fight or perish, black ranger.”

Tommy slowly stood and dropped into a battle stance.

“This is not going to be pretty. Dino Thunder, power up!”

Quickly he morphed into his armor, and attacked, the two men evenly matched with staff and sword. Leaping and parrying, they moved around the warehouse floor.

“Come on!” cried Jason, egging Tommy on.

They continued to fight on, even forcing Tommy to climb the metal stairs at one point, and when Jason finally knocked Tommy back towards the metal drums, he broke away to the suitcase full of equipment, engaging a sequence.

“Time to put you where you belong Bro… as part of history.”

“Hayley, Kim!” Tommy yelled into his communicator.

“Tommy?” Kim asked, moving with Hayley to the monitor where they saw Tommy leaning against the drums in the warehouse and Jason doing something near a machine in the same area.

“I found Jason… he’s…aah!”

Jason turned the device at his best friend and without an ounce of remorse, let loose a molten wave of gold colored gel-like material, quickly rising from Tommy’s feet to above his head. In moments, the material hardened to an amber consistency, trapping Tommy within it.

Kim and Hayley watched in horror as he was sealed in the substance.

“Tommy. Come in Tommy,” called out Hayley while Kim stood in shock.

“See you around Bro,” said Jason before he disappeared, leaving his best friend like a statue in the warehouse, and his other best friend nearly in tears in the command center.


	10. Hanging by a Moment

“It looks like you have more on your plate, Hayley,” Kim said, her tone flat and her eyes dull as Hayley ran the scanner over Tommy’s imprisoned form.

“Is he okay?” asked Ethan, still stunned at the call from Hayley to help bring Dr. O’s frozen body from the warehouse back to the cave.

“This internal scan should be able to tell us more. We’ll figure this out Kim. I promise.”

“I know you will. But in the meantime, we still have Jason to deal with.”

“So, what’s the deal? Is Dr. O frozen or something?” questioned Kira.

“Not exactly. More like he’s fossilized, fused into this amber-like substance.”

“Can you get him out?” asked Conner.

“Too risky. He’s able to stay alive in there, but I hate to think what would happen if I broke him out.”

“A Paleontologist turned into a fossil…” Ethan started, but stopped before he said anything that would make the situation worse.

“Kim, what are we going to do now?” questioned Conner.

“I had an idea, but I don’t know if it’s something that we can pull off,” replied Kim, moving to sit heavily across the way from where they’d moved Tommy’s encased form.

“Any idea at this point…” Ethan remarked with a heavy sigh.

“Can we short circuit the morphers?” Kim asked Hayley, causing everyone to look at her like she’d lost her mind, and what with Jason evil and Dr. O a fossil, there was a good possibility that she had.

“What?” cried Kira, stunned at Kim’s suggestion.

“Kim, our armor, our powers are our only weapon…” Conner added quickly, totally lost by Kim’s thinking.

“We’d be toast!” Ethan exclaimed as he looked around to the others wildly.

“I could…” Hayley started, her mind whirling. “But once that happens, you’re all in civilian mode… oh!”

“I get it, if all the morphers go down, that should include Jason’s too!” Conner stated, finally getting where Kim was going with this idea.

“And once that happens, I think we can either get his gem or at least slow him down long enough that we can send that pulse along the gem’s frequency and disrupt the connection the other power has on Jason.”

“But if that happens, it might dissipate, look for a new host or revert to its original form,” Hayley informed everyone. “I just don’t know how it’s going to react.”

“We have to take that chance. We’re down two rangers now… until we get Tommy out of the amber, we need Jason back,” Kim said with a thick tone.

“I think this could work… I need to fine tune the radius of the pulse to both cut your powers and then pinpoint it to disrupt the evil influence on Jason. I might be ready tomorrow.”

“Good. Ethan, can you help Hayley with the readings on Tommy while she works on the power pulse trajectory? Kira, Conner, why don’t you two head out and I’ll contact you when I have a plan in place to go over with everyone,” Kim stated, her eyes drifting from the team to flicker on Tommy’s petrified form.

With that, Kira started for the front of the cave where the trap door to Dr. O’s kitchen was. Conner, realizing that she was avoiding him yet again rushed up to her.

“Kira, wait a second, will you,” Conner intoned, hurriedly walking after the yellow clad singer.

“Why? So you can not show up again?” she fired off without turning her head to acknowledge his presence.

“What?”

“Never mind… obviously you couldn’t be bothered to tell me to my face you weren’t coming.”

“But I did…”

However, Kira wasn’t listening, and she pushed past him and out the trap door to Dr. O’s house and through the front door, leaving Conner lost and hurt.

-x-

Kim had given everyone the outline of the new plan, and all they were waiting on was for Jason to make another appearance. When his signature was spotted by Hayley as she was scanning the city, she sent out a signal to the team, and they converged on an industrial site where Elsa and Zeltrax were already battling with Jason.

The team arrived on their raptor cycles to interrupt the fight, skidding to a halt.

“Hold it right there!” yelled Conner as he leapt from his bike.

“Great. That’s all we need,” growled Elsa.

“Whoa… how do we handle both the white ranger and Zeltrax and Elsa?” Ethan said in a stage whisper, worried about how the plan could be implemented while they had to protect themselves from the real bad guys.

“Good question,” remarked Conner, realizing Ethan’s concern.

“We’ll make it easy for you!” called out Elsa as she called up an invisiportal and escaped with Zeltrax.

Jason watched as Elsa and Zeltrax left, and turned to the rangers, pointing his sword at them.

“If you had any sense, you’d run too.”

“Dream on!” said Kira, as the team took up battle positions.

“Let’s do this,” said Conner, looking to Kim, who nodded.

With that, they launched into battle, Conner, Kim and Ethan leading with their swords, with Kira using her terra grips. Conner, Kim and Ethan were knocked away and Jason backed Kira up against a wall.

“Had enough?” Jason sneered at the yellow ranger twisting in his grasp.

“Hardly,” she spat out as she pushed with all her strength at the white ranger, barely moving him.

At that, Jason started to bring his sword down on Kira, and Kim panicked. She quickly moved towards where Jason and Kira were fighting and as she did, she attempted to use her power to slow the oncoming blow that Jason had sailing towards Kira’s head.

“Come on Hayley,” Kim whispered under her breath as she moved to intercept the sword, in whatever way she had to.

“Stop it!” the white ranger growled as his sword struggled to advance.

Then, with a flash of bright light, Jason’s sword disappeared as everyone was back in their unarmored forms. His empty fist rushed forward and landed on Kira’s shoulder. Without the deadly blade, the blow merely staggered the yellow ranger, the force of it was less than expected.

Racing forward, Kim put herself between Jason and Kira’s hunched form and raised her hand, slapping the white ranger across the left cheek, hard enough for the sound to reverberate around them.

“Come on Jason… fight it, damn it!”

With the slap and the sound of Kim’s voice, everyone watched in stunned silence as Jason’s eyes cleared for a moment.

Then another white light pulsed through the battlefield, but this time only focused on Jason. His gauntlet sizzled and an arch of lightning erupted from the gem in the center, and a dark essence dripped from the white stone to congeal on the ground. After a few minutes, the gem was purely white again and the puddle on the ground had solidified. Beside him, a dark crystal lay quiet on the ground, and Kim angrily stomped it with her shoe, shattering it into a million pieces on the pavement as she moved to Jason’s side.

“Kim?” Jason asked, his eyes clear but confused.

“Jason… are you okay?” Kim questioned cautiously, her hands going around one of his arms, nearly holding him up when everything slammed into him like a freight train and he staggered slightly.

“I… oh my God, what did I do?”

“It wasn’t your fault. Come on, you know how this works. You got taken over… what you did was under the influence of something that you had no control over.”

“But… I attacked you, the kids… Tommy!”

“We understand,” said Conner, moving to grasp Jason’s other arm, both for support and to acknowledge his words.

“You couldn’t help it, just like Dr. O couldn’t when he was the evil green ranger,” explained Ethan, making Jason look to Kim with a piteous look.

“God Kim… are you okay?” he question, realizing now just what she had been through the last day or so, since his attack on Tommy.

“I will be once we get you back to the command center and Tommy unpetrified. Let’s take this one step at a time. How about we get you home and we can deal with everything after that?”

Jason looked at her, knowing that she was far from fine, but allowed her to escort him to her bike and the five of them rode back quickly to the command center.

-x-

“Jason! Kim, you guys did it!” exclaimed Hayley, nearly jumping up from her seat to congratulate the returning heroes.

She stopped herself as she watched them enter the cave, no one seemed like they were interested in celebrating.

Jason shuffled in, Kim at his side and they both gravitated to Tommy’s form in the amber prison as the others followed somberly. The ride back had put each of them into their own silent worlds, and in doing so, too many things had begun to gestate in their heads… and not all of them good.

“Oh bro… I’m so sorry,” Jason whispered, and Kim’s hand clenched on his arm.

“We’re working on getting him free. It shouldn’t be too long, and he’s simply in hibernation inside the amber, sort of like a bear…” Hayley explained to Jason, her eyes watching the white ranger as he leaned on Kim’s petite form.

At her words, his eyes swept the room, watching the others look at him with various expressions… some good and others bad. While the new kids understood he hadn’t been himself, the fact remained that it had been him that had attacked them, him who had hurt his best friends. No matter the supportive words they’d heaped on him after his initial release from the evilness that had enslaved him, he knew that they would have their doubts for a while.

Looking to escape the scrutiny, he slowly moved from Kim’s side and wandered away to take the second seat at the command center console beside Hayley. He hadn’t attached her… had no cause to do so, and he was grateful now for that. It meant that he could talk with her, and hopefully explain himself to her without the other emotions that talking to the others would bring up.

“I can’t be here right now,” Jason said quietly to Hayley as they sat at the console, Kim standing with the others by Tommy’s amber encased body not more than twenty feet from them. “I’ve caused everyone too much pain… I understand now why Tommy wanted to leave when we freed him.”

“That’s only natural. What you went through was very traumatic. But I know that Kim is really depending on you being here to help…”

“I know that. Even though she hasn’t said it outright, I know she was hoping that I’d be able to help with the team while Tommy is… her mind’s going to be here and not fully on the field.”

“So?”

“I… I can’t. I want to, but…”

“Jason, its okay…” she said as she unthinkingly laid a hand on his arm, and she quickly pulled it back when she realized what she’d done. “I don’t think she’ll hate you for needing to take care of yourself. You taking some time away from here is probably best.”

Hayley dipped her head to keep him from seeing the true depth of her concern in her eyes, and Jason moved to lightly touch her cheek with his fingers. Her head popped up in surprise, and he ran his tongue across his suddenly dry lips. Her breath caught in her chest for a moment as she watched him intently looking at her.

“I’ll be back. Not just to help, to see the commitment to the team through, but… I’d like to see if maybe there’s something here, between us. But before I can ask you to consider seeing me, I have to be sure that I’m being fair to you.”

Grasping her hand tightly for one long moment, Jason released it and stood, moving to where Kim stood, dreading his next words which would leaver her to deal with everything… alone.

“Kim?” Jason started, and his friend swung her head slowly to pierce him with knowing eyes.

“Will you be back at least?” she asked with a slight quiver in her voice.

“Yes. You know I will. I just…”

Kim frowned but nodded. She remembered all too well the pain Tommy had felt after being freed from Rita’s spell. The months of nightmares and nervous starts at thunderstorms. She remembered her own emotional state the weeks following the incident at Muranthias. How she dreamed in vivid detail laughing at Tommy’s caring, outstretched hand. How she had attacked him, Kat, the others. Jason had it twice as bad now. Between that same incident when he’d nearly strangled Tommy at the edge of Maligore’s pit to now… having petrified his best friend.

“I’ll call you as soon as we have him out.”

“I’ll be back soon Kim. You’re strong… Hayley will have Tommy free in no time. Until then…” Jason said with a grimace that Kim knew was rooted in his conflicting emotions about leaving.

“Go. We’ll be okay.”

Without another word, Jason rushed past everyone and headed to the stairs, intent on packing his things and heading home to sort everything out. As he did so, Kira, Conner and Ethan stood in shock and then turned to Kim.

“That’s it? We save him and now he’s leaving?” complained Conner, his face angry.

“Yeah. I mean, after what he did to Dr. O, shouldn’t he be all guilty and want to help out?” asked Kira.

“He needs to get away for right now,” Kim said tiredly, her eyes closing at the flood of emotions rushing through her. “And can you all tell me that you don’t need a little time to get used to the idea that he’s back to being good? That he’s not the same person who just a few hours ago was kicking your asses?”

“That’s… that’s not the point,” argued Ethan, and the others realized that Kim’s statement rang more true than they’d thought. “We could still use his help while Dr. O is fossilized.”

“Yes, but we need Jason whole in the long run more than we need him broken right now.”

They all stared at her, and Kim shook her head. Maybe after a while of thinking about it they would understand. But for now, she didn’t have the energy to keep arguing about it with them.

“Why don’t you all head home. We accomplished what we set out to do…”

Ethan looked to Hayley, and she nodded that he should leave. Giving Conner and Kira a sideways glance and seeing they weren’t moving any time soon, he headed for the stairs to Dr. O’s house. Kira and Conner seemed frozen there, and then as Conner started to open his mouth and reach a hand out to her, she turned her back on him. Frustrated, Conner ran to the stairs and left the room.

Feeling that there was something going on that she didn’t know about, Hayley turned her attention to Tommy, leaving Kim and Kira semi-alone in the command center.

“Kira, do you have a moment?” Kim asked, having finally gotten sick of watching the yellow ranger treat Conner like a bad dog.

“Sure. Does this have to do with Dr. O?” Kira replied and followed Kim as she led her away to the stairs and up into Tommy’s kitchen. The house was now empty, and Kim sat at the table with a sigh, motioning for Kira to do the same.

“No. It has to do with you, and what’s going on with you. I… Tommy and I thought you and Conner were going out on a date the other night. Then, you both arrive the next day and now you can’t stand to be near one another. Did something happen between you two?”

“Nothing happened, that’s just it,” complained Kira, moving to sit heavily on one of the kitchen chairs as she looked at Kim with an expression of unhappiness. “He didn’t show. He called and had Trent tell me he wasn’t coming. I mean, after all his comments about wanting to go out with me, how could he just not tell me in person…”

“So, you called him back once you got the message or went to get an explanation from him?”

“No… Trent offered to take me to the movie instead.”

“And you went?” Kim questioned, surprised.

“I… Trent was being so nice and I felt so horrible about Conner standing me up, I just said yes.”

Kim grimaced. She had hoped that Kira had at least talked to Conner, but from the looks of it, she was going about this without even a word to the man she was interested in dating.

“Have your feelings for Conner changed? Are you interested in Trent instead?”

“I… I was really looking forward to going out with Conner. But when he didn’t show, I just thought maybe I was seeing more in him than was there,” Kira nearly sobbed, her emotions over being ditched finally catching up with her.

“No, you aren’t. Kira, he’s been upset ever since that night, and I know he has tried to talk to you. You need to sit down and discuss things with him. And you need to talk with Trent too. If you don’t like him in that way… you need to tell him so. If you don’t, it will just hurt both of you later on.”

Kira nodded, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, knowing that she did like Trent’s company, but she wasn’t really attracted to him like she was Conner. And the way Trent had opened doors for her at the movie theatre and shared his popcorn with her… he was sending all the signals that he was really interested in seeing her again.

-x-

Kira walked towards the lake, having called Trent and asking to meet him there. She found him on a wood bench, sketching.

“Hey. Thanks for meeting me.”

“No problem,” said Trent, folding the notebook and looking up at Kira as she took a seat on the bench.

“I wanted to tell you I had a nice time with you the other night. I really helped me take my mind of… things.”

“That’s great. So… did you think about what I asked after the movie. That maybe I could take you out?”

“Look Trent, it was really sweet that you offered to cover for Conner when he cancelled on me, but… I’m not really interested in dating you. You’re a really great guy, but… I…”

“You’re still hung up on the meathead jock,” Trent said with a bitter tone to his voice.

“Yes,” Kira replied, surprised at Trent’s tone, “and I’m going to talk to him later and ask him about what happened… why he didn’t show.”

Trent looked at her with a wild-eyed expression, and Kira tried to figure out what was going on. As soon as she had mentioned talking to Conner about what had happened to him the night of their date, Trent freaked out…

“Trent?”

The young man knew that once Conner and Kira spoke, everything would come out. His only chance to save any chance to keep Kira’s interest was to tell her the truth and hope she would understand his motivation… his reasoning.

“I… I lied to you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Conner didn’t call and cancel. I just told you that so you wouldn’t go out with him.”

“You… how could you?” Kira said, standing as she looked at the man whom she thought was kind and sweet told her that he’d deceived her.

“I… I was afraid that if you went out with Conner that I’d never had another chance to show you how good we could be together. You don’t have anything in common with him, but I understand you. The creative part of you, the part that craves acceptance. You’re a superhero to me, a goddess and I couldn’t just let that… stupid jock sweep you off without trying to stop him.”

“So you lied? You really thought that I’d never find out?”

“I hoped that you wouldn’t even speak with him after he stood you up. But when you said you were going to talk with him… I knew I had to tell you the truth,” he said, his voice nearly cracking on his admission.

“And what if I hadn’t decided I wanted to keep pursuing things with Conner? You were going to start a relationship with me based on a lie? Is that what you wanted? Is that what your father taught you? That when you want something, you do anything to get it?” she accused, remembering Anton Mercer’s near take over of the cyberspace.

“No… I just…”

“I don’t want to hear it. If you couldn’t respect my decision to go out with Conner, then you don’t respect me.”

With that Kira stormed off, leaving Trent behind at the stone bench near the lake as she went to go looking for the red ranger so she could apologize for her behavior.

-x-

Kim sat in the dark command center, the only light illuminating the fossilized prison of the man she loved. She walked to his side, pulling up one of the rolling desk chairs he or Hayley had brought into the place and sat down.

Glancing down, she looked at the cordless phone in her hand and sighed. It wasn’t like she couldn’t call her and tell her what was going on… hell, she’d find out soon enough. But right now, she really could use her friend, and she would have to hope that the former yellow ranger was prepared for what was coming her way.

Deliberately jabbing the buttons, she dialed the number that she knew almost as well as Jason’s. After a few rings, she heard the line pick up.

“Hello?” said the exotic voice that Kim remembered hearing that first day of school when she was eight.

“Hey Trini… its Kim. Do you have time to talk?” she said, her eyes flowing back to the amber block before her as she prepared herself to pour forth everything she had been feeling for the last two days.

“Of course… talk to me Kim.”

Kim gave a small smile and proceeded to do just that.


	11. When the Stars Go Blue

Kira headed straight to the Cybercafe, hoping that Conner would be there. She had to apologize, and she needed to do it now.

As she opened the doors, she found the red ranger with Ethan, the two of them working on a paper, no doubt for Mr. Feldman’s History class. Conner always was putting History homework off…

“Conner… can I speak with you?” she asked hesitantly, her entire body sending out hesitant, uncomfortable vibes.

He turned and regarded her coolly, but she could see the spark of hurt in his eyes. Ethan looked between the two of them and nervously started tapping his fingers on the table.

“So, you want to talk to me now?” Conner said, his voice tinged with an angry edge.

“Look, Conner, I’m sorry… I didn’t know…”

“Didn’t know what?”

“That you didn’t stand me up,” she replied sorrowfully.

“What?” he said, nearly jumping from his seat. “That’s what you thought? You were the one who wasn’t here when I arrived…”

People were beginning to stare, and Kira nervously glanced around and then focused on Conner with a determined look.

“Conner… do you really want to discuss this here?” she nearly hissed, her face starting to turn red from embarrassment.

“Okay… let’s go outside.”

Hurriedly, Kira headed out the door, leaving Conner to follow. Once she was outside, she glanced around and found a semi secluded spot near the café, and motioned to Conner to follow her. Once they were away from everyone, she turned to Conner with a humiliated expression.

“I’m sorry I didn’t let you talk to me. I was angry that you didn’t have the decency to contact me directly to cancel our date.”

“But I never cancelled. I was there exactly at seven. But you weren’t there,” he said, now more confused than before.

“I know. I… someone told me that you weren’t coming,” she admitted hesitantly, knowing that this was going to change everyone’s opinion of the guy they thought was their friend.

“Who?”

“I…”

“Kira, tell me. Who told you I wasn’t coming?” Conner questioned irritably.

“Trent.”

“What?” Conner yelled, and Kira cringed.

“He lied to me… in an effort to get me to not go out with you… and go out with him,” she explained, her lips settling into a frown as she thought again on Trent’s deceit.

Conner’s eyes bulged, and Kira wondered if the red ranger was going to loose his cool. She studied him as the idea began to gel in his head, and the realization that the young Hispanic man could have lied to her…

“I can’t believe it… he, I, we all trusted him. He helped Hayley… how could he?”

“He… he thought if he kept us apart that I’d choose him. But he was wrong. I’d already chosen you.”

At her words, Conner focused more closely on Kira, and saw that she was telling the truth. Her reaction to his words, and how she had answered him all spoke to her honesty about her feelings. And when he realized that both of them had been played, his anger sparked.

“I swear, the next time I see him, I’m gonna…” Conner started to say, his fists tightening as his pissed off mind began imagining Trent’s face before him.

“You’re not going to do anything,” she said simply as she laid a hand on his arm, coming closer to him. “He’s lost, and you beating the crap out of him would just invalidate everything you’ve accomplished as a ranger. What we’re going to do is go out on our date. And maybe, if you’re really lucky, I’ll let you kiss me goodnight.”

His eyes widened and she smiled at him. He beamed back at her and quickly caught up her hands and held them close to his chest. She watched him with a flutter in her stomach and realized that she’d made the right choice.

“Can we go right now?”

Kira laughed and then nodded, and Conner swept his arm around her waist and led them to his car.

-x-

“Hey, any luck on defossilizing Dr. O?” asked Ethan the following afternoon as he, Conner and Kira entered the command center, finding Kim overseeing Hayley scanning the amber material Tommy was trapped in.

“Not yet. I just can’t find an energy source that can safely break the molecular bonds of the amber.”

Suddenly from the console, a beeping alert brought everyone’s attention to the monitors, and Kim quickly moved to allow Hayley to sit down and figure out what the alarm was all about. Around the main chair, everyone huddled close by, waiting for word.

“That’s weird. The satellite’s picking up a strange reading in the forest.”

“Let’s go take a look,” suggested Conner, with Kim and the others nodding in agreement.

-x-

“Cassidy? Devin? What are you two doing out here?” asked Conner as the team arrived at the site that Hayley had guided them to.

“We might ask you the same thing,” the blond reporter said with a haughty tone.

“Look, we don’t have time to play games with you right now. Let’s check this out.”

As they all turned to move closer to the energy reading, they found themselves no longer alone, as a monster with tentacle like arms appeared on the grassy hill above them.

“Pardon me, but I don’t think I’m supposed to let you do that,” it said as it waved forth a group of TyranoDrones.

“Quick, run!” yelled Cassidy, turning and heading away, Devin right behind her.

Before getting to far, Devin pulled out his video camera and looked to the blond.

“Do you want me to get this?”

“Hideous mutant creatures like that is news in this town. Let’s get out of here.”

“Okay.”

With that they rushed off into the woods, leaving the others behind and now free to dispatch the advancing horde without any possible civilian casualties or interference.

Immediately the monster directed the TyranoDrones to attack, and the team launched into battle. The four kicked and punched through their respective opponents, and partway through the fight, Kim’s gauntlet beeped, indicating that someone was trying to communicate with her. Pressing the single button to open the channel, she called to the person on the other end.

“Yeah?”

“Kim, I’ve analyzed the radiation from that rock and it’s really freaky. Get away from it,” said Hayley.

“It’s a little late for that.”

Unknown to the rangers, the monster had decided to inspect the rock. In doing so, the rock’s energy had changed its personality, sending it into a battle-rage, attacking Conner with a flail-like arm to his back, sending the red ranger flying.

“Come on you wimps, put ‘em up!” it taunted as the rangers quickly moved around Conner’s half-prone form.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Ethan asked the others.

“Ready?” called Conner.

“Ready!” answered the team as they whipped up their arms, converting the gauntlets into their morphers.

“Dino Thunder, power up. Hah!”

“Purple Ranger, power up!”

With that, four power rangers transformed into their armor, falling into battle stance and then launching into a direct attack. With their armor, they now had a better chance at winning this fight. However as they battled the monster and the TyranoDrones, the energy from the meteorite that Hayley had warned them about pulsed out of the rock and struck each of them, hitting their systems like a lighting strike.

Once the effect seemed to wear off, they struck out again at the TyranoDrones, their new wave of attacks sending their opponents running.

“I’ll be back for round two. Retreat!” said the monster, as he and the TyranoDrones disappeared in an invisiportal, leaving the rangers behind.

“Okay. Power down,” said Conner. “Well, that was a challenging altercation.”

“I was just getting started. I want to annihilate that goon,” Ethan nearly growled.

“Ew, I got dirt under my nails. That’s like, totally disgusting,” remarked Kira.

“You guys are such losers. I can’t see why I’m even letting you common folk hang out with me,” Kim stated, and then looked down on her street clothes. “Ugh. I need to go shopping. Where’s my Prada? I need to call my agent…”

Their gauntlets beeping brought the four of them back to the matter at hand, and as Ethan pressed the communications control on his wrist, Hayley’s voice cut the silence.

“Guys, head back to the lab. I have some news about the space rock.”

“Space rock?” the all intoned.

-x-

The following day, as the team began to return to the cave for another check in on the meteor, Hayley knew now that the strange effects she had thought might have affected the team had most certainly occurred. Ethan arrived first and was doing curls with a set of hand weights.

“What’s up Hayley?”

“Ethan, are you sure you feel okay?”

“Oh yeah. I’m pumped and ready to rock!”

“Good morning all. The weather is particularly pleasant today,” announced Conner as he arrived, hair slicked back, books in hand and dressed in a nerdy tweed jacket. “Excessively low humidity.”

“Whatever bro,” replied Ethan as he continued his weight lifting. “How do my arms look? I look ripped or what?”

“Good morning Kira,” commented Conner, looking to the stairs as a very prim and properly dressed Kira walked down with shopping bags on either arm.

“Hello. Sorry I’m late. There was a sale and I just… well, you understand.”

“Hey, you guys think I’m ready for the Iron Man competition?” Ethan asked, his eyes settling back on his biceps.

“Where’s Kimberly?” asked Conner, looking around the cave as he pushed the newly acquired glasses up his nose.

“I’m right here,” rang Kim’s voice, and they turned to see the first pink ranger walk in and everyone’s eyes bulged. She looked like she’d just come from posing for a cover of a magazine – dressed to the nines in a stylish white suit and her hair styled, eyes covered with sunglasses. She whipped them off, showing the delicately painted nails and perfectly painted face as she sighed dramatically. “Please tell me you’ve found a way to get my handsome out of that rock so I can get the hell out of this place. I mean, there’s nothing in this dump. I’m so bored I might snore myself to death.”

“Okay, there were definitely side effects from you being exposed to the meteor,” Hayley said confidently as she looked at each of the rangers. “We need to destroy that rock and get you guys back to normal.”

“Huh?”

“Side effects?” asked Conner, bewildered. “I find that highly improbable.”

“Yeah. I feel like I can kick Mesogog’s butt myself,” replied Ethan haughtily.

“Oh come off it little boy. You have no idea what a real villain is like. Now Zedd, he was evil,” Kim said with a self satisfied smile as she looked at her nails in admiration. “And it was my Tommy and me, and the others on the team of course that took him down…”

Suddenly from behind them, the alert system began beeping, causing them all to hurriedly move to the console. On the screen, their monster foe had returned and was attacking the populace.

“I guess that’s gonna have to wait. Look who’s back,” bemoaned Hayley, turning to the changed rangers.

Looking to one another and shrugging, the changed rangers quickly realized that even in their ‘normal’ forms that they had a job to do, and were ready to do it.

-x-

Days later, after the team had fractured in the field and then gone their separate ways to pursue their new personalities, Hayley called them back to the command center with news.

“Hey guys.”

“What now? I was having a super-intense workout,” complained Ethan.

“And I was right in the middle of a very compelling biography,” pointed out Conner.

“Is this gonna involve dirt? ‘Cause if it is, I’m gonna have to say “uh-uh”,” Kira stated flat out.

“Really Hayley, I hope this is important. I had two magazine interviews scheduled today and a conference call with Madonna,” Kim remarked with a dramatic sigh.

“Sorry I interrupted your busy day. I just thought you might like to know I think I’ve found a way to unfossilize Dr. Oliver,” retorted Hayley.

“Really?” questioned Kira.

“No way,” said Ethan.

“Wonderful. Have him call me when he’s out,” Kim replied with a smile that seemed a little too happy.

“How” asked Conner.

“The meteor fragment. My theory is that it frees your inner selves. That’s why you guys are acting so weird.”

“Of course! If you could harness its power, you could free Dr. Oliver from the inside out,” reasoned Conner, his eyes shining with the sudden realization. “Although I do take offense at being called weird.”

“Sorry. You’re not being weird. It’s just that the rock is allowing you to show a side of yourself that you don’t usually show,” Hayley explained.

“A recessive personality trait.”

“You could say that. Like, Conner, there’s a part of you that’s intelligent, studious. Ethan, there’s a part of you that’s athletic, even competitive.”

“I still don’t get any of this,” admitted Ethan as he raised his hands and shrugged.

“You don’t have to. For now, just pull it together as a team. Trust me.”

“That sounds logical.”

“Anything to get my handsome back.”

“All right, here’s what I need you to do…” began Hayley.

-x-

Having dispatched the monster, the rangers rode towards the meteor on their raptor cycles, the vehicles bouncing over the rough forest terrain.

“Okay guys, lasers on full,” yelled Conner as they came within firing range of the meteor.

As they let go the barrage of weapons fire, their bikes bucked and they compensated, arching the vehicles into jumps as they continued towards the crater. Skidding to a halt, they jumped from their bikes and Conner called for them to power down before moving on to the edge of the Earth basin the rock was in.

“You think this will work?” asked Kira as Ethan picked up a chunk of the rock slightly bigger than his fist.

“The components should still have residual powers that can help Dr. O,” he replied.

“How do you know this stuff?” asked Conner.

“It’s called education,” fired back the blue ranger.

“Okay, that was kind of brutal.”

“Stop it you two,” said Kim, looking at both young men as if she was their parent.

“Hey, you sound like the old Ethan,” realized Conner suddenly.

“Hey, I do,” Ethan answered with a big grin.

“Thank you. One more second at a shopping mall…” Kira began, and Kim smiled and wrapped an understanding arm around the singer.

“Let’s get this rock back to the lab,” Conner stated, reminding them all of their real reason for being out there, as the group raced back to their bikes.

-x-

“I assume you’re feeling back to normal?” Hayley asked, even though just looking at them she knew that they were back to their old selves.

“Thank goodness,” Ethan said with a sigh.

“I heard that,” agreed Conner.

“So Hayley, you’re sure this is going to get Tommy out?” Kim asked, her concern evident in her voice.

“I’m pretty sure… we have to try.”

With that, Hayley slid the rock now in a cylinder into the center of a machine connected to a box similar to the one that had caused Tommy to be fossilized in the first place. The group walked to Hayley’s side, Kira catching Kim’s trembling hand in hers as everyone began to get nervous.

“Come on Hayley.”

“Activating,” she said as she pressed the buttons on the control panel of the machine before them.

A beam of energy gathered on the dish before them, then centered through the point to hit Tommy’s encased form. The electrical-like power began to melt the amber, the material sluing away like so much melting snow.

Without warning, the machine powering the transformation sparked, and exploded in a shower of white sparks, causing everyone to start or scream.

“Oh!” cried out Hayley.

“The rock! It’s fried,” announced Kira as she looked into the quiet and dark center of the generator and lifted the cylinder out.

“Yeah, but look,” remarked Conner, pointing to the subject of the rock’s purpose.

“It worked!” yelled Kira, and she turned to see Kim start to faint, and reached over to help steady the purple ranger until she had her feet back under her.

Tommy stood there, his body moving in his black ranger armor, just like he had been frozen by Jason.

“Dr. O.”

“Awesome!”

Everyone but Kim raced to Tommy’s side. She stood there, still barely keeping herself standing as she fought not to cry. He was back…

“Good job guys,” he said as he looked at the teens and Hayley. “Power down.”

Yet at his words, nothing happened.

“I said, power down!”

Again, nothing happened. Everyone started to show the fear on their faces, and even in his stance, it was obvious that Tommy was worried too.

“I think we might have a problem,” he said quietly.

“Tommy?” Kim questioned suddenly, as she moved to him, parting the others and reaching out to touch his chest.

“Hey Beautiful. It looks like I can’t unmorph.”

“Are you sure?”

“I…” he started, his eyes locked on Kim’s through the visor as his heart thudded loudly in his chest.

Then, without any explanation, the black ranger’s uniform dissolved, leaving Tommy standing there in his civilian garb. Kim moved and caught Tommy up in a huge hug, her fear at having him fossilized and then stuck in his ranger uniform ebbing.

“Wow Dr. O, you really had us scared there,” said Ethan, as all the teens sighed and looked among themselves, happy that their teacher and team mate was finally back.

“Hey Kim, I’m okay,” Tommy remarked as he started to feel his ribs complaining at the tight grip Kim had on his torso, and looked down to see her face buried in his chest.

“You scared me to death,” she murmured, only easing up on her ‘death’ hug enough to give him some more air.

He smiled at that, and reached up to stroke her hair, hoping to soothe her and himself. He looked around the room and realized suddenly that someone was missing.

“Where’s Jason?”

At his question, Kim’s face raised and she swallowed hard. The last he had known, Jason was still under the evil spell…

“Tommy, we need to talk. Hayley, can I take him upstairs?”

“Sure. I’ll just want to run some more tests later. I’ll send the kids home and then close up.”

Kim nodded her thanks and smiled at the team as she led Tommy away from the center of the cave and to the stairs. Once they were in his living room, Kim moved to the couch, sitting down on it as she warily watched Tommy come to her side.

“Kim? What happened? Did you save Jase?” he asked rapid fire, his concern growing at Kim’s reluctance to talk downstairs.

“He’s fine… well, as fine as someone who was just under an evil spell’s influence and just released can be,” she quickly explained, and watched as his shoulders seemed to loosen up and the pain in his eyes lessen. “He went home, back to Angel Grove to get his head together. I knew you’d understand…”

Tommy nodded, knowing that between the attacks on the team, Kim and himself that his long time friend was no doubt starting to understand in unfortunate detail just what he had gone through following his time as the evil green ranger.

“At least he’ll have friends there that will understand…”

“I called Trini and let her know what to expect when he got back.”

“What did she have to say?”

“She was worried about me… having you trapped and Jason guilt-ridden and leaving me alone to take care of things. I told her that as long as I knew that you would be okay and Jason was on the mental mend, I could hold things together.”

“And have you?” Tommy asked, reaching over to catch her hand tenderly and tugging her closer to him.

“No, not really,” admitted Kim softly. “But I didn’t have any choice. I had to stay focused.”

“But you don’t have to do that now.”

At his words, the first tear pooled and then slid loose of her lashes, streaking down her face. He immediately moved to wipe away the tears, his eyes showing the love and hurt for her he felt. She nearly hiccupped and swallowed hard as she tried to get her emotions back under control.

“I was so scared… that we wouldn’t find a way to save Jason or you… “

“But you did both Kim,” he said as he cradled her face in his hands. “I’m so proud of you Beautiful. You proved that you always have deserved to be a ranger, and that you can handle anything that comes your way. If Zordon had known, he might have made you the leader all those years ago instead of me.”

Kim couldn’t help smiling then.

“So, how about we go and get some sleep?” he said, standing up and reaching down to help Kim up.

When he didn’t lead them to the front door, but towards his bedroom, Kim slowed and stared at him, causing him to stop and then let her go. He licked his lips nervously, and ran a hand through his hair before catching her gaze.

“Tommy?” she whispered, unsure of what was going on.

“Kim, I… I know that before you stayed while Jason was evil so we could both get some sleep, but… I was hoping that even though we haven’t gotten to date as much as we’d like…”

“Tommy, we’ve had one official date since we settled things between us.”

“I know. But I’d really like it if you stayed… even if it was just for tonight.”

“But you’d rather it be permanent?” she questioned, a hint of awe and something else in her voice.

“Yes… I know that we haven’t…”

Before he could get another word out, Kim nearly jumped forward and pulled his head to hers in a fierce kiss. Immediately he responded, wrapping his arms around the petite woman before him and holding her to him like his life depended on it. When she finally let him go, she looked up at him with new tears on her lashes.

“Let’s go to bed,” she said lightly, and then smiled a stunning smile at him. “I’ll pack up my things in the morning.”

Tommy grinned and looped his arms around her waist, lifting her feet off the floor and proceeded to carry her to ‘their’ bedroom.


	12. Under Your Spell

As morning arrived, Tommy stretched and noted with a small smile the warm presence next to him that was snoring softly. He hadn’t noticed before, but now, without the looming presence of an evil ranger, he was more aware of how Kim’s hair stuck out in odd angles on the pillow, how she curled up into his side, the way her mouth was partially open as she slept and how she snored.

The sight of her beside him warmed his heart and made it threaten to take flight.

But the little snoring sound… it was just cute.

And then the cuteness was gone as his alarm clock began buzzing, causing the woman in his bed to turn over and complain.

“God, is it 6am already?” she moaned as she forced herself to not pull the covers up over her head.

“Sorry Beautiful. But I have to get cleaned up, get some coffee and get to class.”

“No, no… I understand. You head for the shower and I’ll get some coffee started, okay?”

Nodding, Tommy threw the covers aside and padded off to the bathroom. Once he was started on his routine, Kim threw off the covers, quickly throwing on her clothes from the day before and then focused on making the bed before moving on to the kitchen to start the coffee. Before Tommy was finished showering and shaving, Kim had thrown in bread into the toaster as well, scrounging out a container of butter and jam from the refrigerator to go with it.

“Get dressed! I have the coffee and some toast made,” Kim called out from the kitchen, making Tommy smile as he walked back to the bedroom in a towel.

After quickly dressing, Tommy headed into the kitchen to find Kim already dressed, buttering and spreading jam on a stack of toast. On the table as well was the sugar bowl and milk for her coffee. As he watched her, the feeling of domestic bliss struck him hard.

“You’re way too quick for me.”

“I figured I would shower and change when I got home.”

At her words, Tommy frowned as he poured himself some coffee and took a sip. They’d said a lot of things the night before, and he wasn’t sure if maybe she’d changed her mind. They were going pretty fast…

“So, you’re getting up and heading back to your apartment and clearing out your things, and coming right back here?” he asked nervously before shoving a piece of toast with jam in his mouth.

“That was the plan. Of course, since you have to go to school,” Kim mentioned with a happy tone, looking at the clock on the kitchen wall. “I figured I would come back after you get home from classes and move my things in then.”

“No need,” Tommy said as he moved quickly to the living room, where he opened a wooden box near the door and returned, item in hand. “I figured you might need this at some point.”

With that he passed her a copy of the house key, and she smirked at him.

“You were planning on asking me to move in before last night’s impromptu invite?” she asked, holding the brass key in her fingers.

“Eventually. Things just… well, sped up a bit, in the light of all the days I lost stuck in that amber stuff. I realized once I was out that I didn’t want to waste any more time.”

“Understood handsome,” she replied, reaching over to lay a hand on his before removing it to pick up a piece of the toast for herself.

“Anyhow, you’re very right… I need to get to class. You can see yourself out, right?”

She nodded and moved to stand and kissed him lightly on the lips.

When the door closed, she sighed and finished her coffee and toast, setting the dishes in the sink before heading for the door herself. When she closed and locked it behind her, she couldn’t help but smile at the fact that if everything went well, she would be doing this for a long time to come.

-x-

When Tommy arrived home that afternoon, he found Kim already at home and he moved to meet her at the couch.

“Good day?” she asked, her eyes coming up to meet his as she tossed a composition notebook on the coffee table.

“Okay. I kept it light since we’re going on a field trip tomorrow to Anton’s museum. They’ve got a great dinosaur exhibit that I hope will inspire some of the students.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“You try corralling 40 teenagers into one coherent group and move them through scientific exhibits,” Tommy retorted.

“Okay, maybe not so fun.”

“I see you’re all settled in,” he said as he looked around, not seeing a box in sight.

“I really didn’t have much to bring. The apartment is furnished, so it was mostly clothes, shoes, accessories, musical equipment…”

Tommy noted that by his desk a guitar was propped up against the wall. Beside that was a laptop bag. On the coffee table, he suspected her incomplete lyrics were being penciled in as she worked on her latest hit.

“So, do you have anything that’s finished?” he asked, reaching for the notepad.

“A few things. I’m working on a new tune that hasn’t fully come together. Why?” she questioned, snatching the notebook from his hands with a look of nervousness.

“I just thought… I haven’t heard you sing in a long time…maybe you’d share one with me…”

Kim blushed and swatted at his hand.

“Maybe another night,” she demurred. “I was just hoping for a nice dinner and some cuddling on the couch. You still have a fondness for bad horror films?”

“Guilty as charged,” he stated with a cringe and Kim punched him lightly in the arm. For all the years that had past, some things stayed the same.

“Good… I saw “Creature from the Black Lagoon” is playing at 8pm on the SciFi channel. What do you say to dinner then settling in for bad movie night? I might even pretend to be frightened and jump in your lap.”

Tommy laughed and leaned over to kiss her. After a short but passionate kiss, Tommy pulled away and smiled, mischief in his eyes.

“Okay, I do believe that I have spaghetti and meatballs in the freezer. I’ll go take them out of the freezer to defrost for dinner tonight. Since it’s still early, I should use the time to prepare the tests for Friday I’m supposed to give. If I work on that, you said you had a song you were working on… I can go downstairs and you can work up here… how about we meet back on this couch after dinner?”

“Deal,” she said with a smile as Tommy moved to kiss her again before they settled into their own individual lives with the promise of time together to come.

-x-

“That was a horrible movie,” complained Conner as he walked Kira out of the Reefside multiplex, his arm around her shoulder following the evening showing of what he considered his worst nightmare – a chick flick.

“What? I thought it was beautiful,” she complained, the remains of her tears still on her cheeks and her arm around Conner’s waist.

“It was all… girly. I mean, it was sort of romantic, but did he have to grovel like that to get her back?”

“You mean you wouldn’t grovel for me?”

He looked at her and sighed. Of course he would. He shrugged and she let loose a small laugh and grinned at him. Their second attempt at a date seemed to be going rather well, and neither of them really wanted things to end.

“Did you want to swing by the café?” Conner asked, hoping for a little more time before they had to call it a night.

“It’s a weeknight. I doubt Dr. O would appreciate either of us falling asleep during the museum field trip tomorrow.”

“Fine. So, if I take you home right now, do I get that kiss I was promised?” Conner questioned hopefully.

“Maybe.”

Conner smiled and quickly escorted her to the car, with Kira leaning into him as if it was where she belonged.

-x-

The following day Dr. Oliver led the group of students up the walk to the front of the museum, with Kira, Ethan and Conner trailing near the back. As they passed a huge T-Rex model outside, Kira slowed down and looked at it, letting other students pass.

“What’s the matter?” Conner asked as he slipped up beside Kira, giving her a smile.

“That thing just gives me a creepy vibe. It’s like it moved.”

“You know dinosaurs are extinct, right?” questioned Ethan with some concern for his friend’s mental health and got a piercing look from the yellow ranger. “Okay, I see your point.”

With that, Ethan and Conner hurried to catch up with the rest of the class, leaving Kira behind to throw one last look at the beast watching her.

“Stop staring,” she demanded, and then hurried to join the others.

As Dr. O lectured about the bones they were passing, the class trailed behind, leaving Conner and Ethan to make note of some of the more ironic comments by their teacher.

“Gotta love the T-Rex,” said Conner, jostling Ethan.

“Whatever bro.”

At the tail end of the tour, Kira wandered, until she heard something, and turned to see a shadow of something moving among the cases. Thinking perhaps she hadn’t been all that wrong when she’d been feeling weird vibes outside, she moved to check it out, unaware she had company.

When she crossed the room and started to turn to peek around the corner, she found Cassidy right beside her.

“Hey. Where are you going?”

“Uh… to the bathroom?” Kira offered lamely.

“Oh great. Me too, ‘cause my lip gloss is totally wearing off,” replied the blond.

“Cassidy, just stay here, okay? You’re just gonna get us both in trouble.”

“Whatever. I’m going to the little girl’s room, and you can do whatever you want,” she said, and left with a swing of her hair.

Once Cassidy was gone, Kira hurried off, moving along the rows of glass cases until she found herself outside of the exhibits and in the corridor where she found herself staring at a storage room door. Curious, she opened the door and entered the mostly dark and dusty room.

Wandering through the partially lit room, Kira didn’t see much of note besides vases and statues. Then suddenly she was caught from behind, the arms of a TryanoDrone holding her. Quickly she broke it’s hold and launched a few punches at it, making it backtrack. Landing a hard kick to its midsection, it went flying back towards the door.

Then from the shelves jumped another three TyranoDrones in front of her and two behind her. Knowing that the odds had just gone from bad to worse, she launched into an attack, kicking at the first one before her, then spinning to block the punch of a second, and turning again to do a step kick on a third.

Her hands and feet were a flurry of movement as she sent one after another TyranoDrone flying into shelves and walls.

That was until she was hit from behind and sent sprawling into the arms of two of the TyranoDrones. The caught her by the shoulders and hauled her around.

“Let me go you freaks.”

Dragging her towards the back of the storage room, and before her she watched as a dinosaur skull started to glow from within the cavity of its eye sockets. With a blinding flash, she began to hear a voice directed at her.

“Kira, you must listen to me. You will do as I command.”

As the voice spoke on, Kira’s eyes went white, the spell she was now under taking hold.

Unaware of Kira’s predicament, Conner and Ethan had slipped away from the tour in the hopes of locating her.

“Where could she have gone?” asked Conner, worried inwardly and fighting not to show it.

“There she is! Kira! Kira!” called out Ethan as the two rushed to catch up with her, and instead nearly ran into her as she came towards them, her hand to her head for a moment before she looked up at them.

“Are you all right? What happened?” Conner questioned, fighting not to check her up and down for injuries.

“Uh yeah, I’m fine. I just got lost.”

“Lost?”

“Yeah, as in not found. But I’m fine. Are we leaving?”

“Yeah, we’re leaving,” replied Ethan, confused.

“Great, let’s go.”

With that, she breezed past them both, leaving the two rangers left behind to wonder what was up, and they hurried after her to join the group.

-x-

That afternoon at the cybercafé, Kira had moved to the counter, leaving Ethan and Conner alone at their table. The red and blue rangers were becoming increasingly concerned with her behavior. Conner was having a hard enough time worrying about her, he was glad Trent wasn’t there, or things might have gotten worse, and he would have been sorely tempted to take his frustration out on his former rival.

“Something’s not right,” commented Ethan softly as he tapped his pencil on the table.

At the counter, Hayley had come up to Kira, wondering nearly the same thing as the others.

“Hey Kira, how come you’re not sitting with the guys?”

“What? We have to do everything together?” she answered in a dull tone.

“Well, no. But you usually do, don’t you?” retorted Hayley.

“Not anymore. Look Hayley, I don’t mean to be rude, but I really need to finish this homework.”

Shrugging, Hayley walked off, and Conner decided that he really needed to see if he could figure out what was going on. With Ethan right behind him, he moved to stand beside her at the counter.

“Hey, you wanna go to a movie tonight?” he asked with a smile.

“No,” Kira said with a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

Conner felt a bit taken aback. Hadn’t they just had a good time the night before?

“You know, when someone doesn’t wanna hang out with people, they usually come up with some sort of excuse.”

“Look, we had a nice time last night, but I just don’t feel like spending any more time with you than I really have to, okay?” she said, turning and staring Conner straight in the eyes. “I have to go. I have something to do.”

With that she picked up her books and headed out, leaving Ethan bewildered and Conner wounded.

-x-

“So you think Kira’s been acting kinda strange?” Tommy asked as Conner and Ethan looked at him and Kim, having come over after Kira’s brush off of them.

“We just don’t know what’s wrong with her,” Conner explained, obviously concerned about Kira’s sudden change in attitude. “I mean, I didn’t say anything to make her mad.”

“Are you sure? Sometimes you say things you don’t think is gonna get people angry and things end up getting thrown at you,” remarked Ethan.

As the team walked into the command center, Ethan and Conner continued to debate the issue, Ethan knowing the two had been out the night before, and Kim watched them argue while Tommy focused in on some boxes that he’d mentioned to Kira a few days before that now held artifacts he’d acquired since his days working with Anton Mercer. Moving towards them, he noted there was nothing inside one of them.

“Dude, I promise I didn’t say anything. As it was… I got a kiss goodnight last night,” Conner said quietly, and Ethan and Kim’s eyebrows both rose at that admission.

“I was just asking,” Ethan explained, now even more sure that something was wrong with Kira.

“All right, I think we may have a bigger problem than that,” Tommy said as he turned towards Kim and the others with the open box. “This box contained the final bone to a creature that was created by Mercer and me years ago.”

“What kind of creature?”

“Fossilador. We were trying to create a dinosaur at one time that had the power of mind control. We scrapped it when it got out of hand.”

“That was a dangerous thing to do handsome,” Kim said with a tone of concern in her voice.

“Great,” interjected Ethan, his eyes wide at the implications.

“As long as I had the main support bone, it could never come to life.”

“And that’s what was in that box,” Conner realized as Tommy moved to set the empty box back down.

“Yes.”

“So, who do you think took it?”

“If it wasn’t one of us or Hayley, that seriously cuts down the suspects,” Tommy noted with some measure of trepidation.

There was a brief pause, and Ethan’s eyes bugged out, “Kira?”

“She called me and said there was a group of TyranoDrones in the forest behind the house. Kim and I went to investigate… but there wasn’t anything out there when we arrived. She could have come in here then.”

As the team looked around at one another, the monitor behind them clicked on, and alarm sounding throughout the chamber. Everyone hurriedly moved to the screen and saw the skeletal monster ravaging the city.

“I’m gonna take a wild stab and say that’s your fossil monster?” Ethan commented.

“Unfortunately it is.”

“Any word from Kira?” Conner asked Kim, who had been trying to raise the yellow ranger on her gauntlet communicator since the suggestion of Kira’s part in the bone’s theft had been suggested.

“Nothing… I’ve been trying but she hasn’t answered.”

“Think you guys, where could she have come in contact with this thing?” asked Tommy, nervously running a hand through his hair.

Conner and Ethan seemed to consider this, and finally Conner realized what it had to be.

“The museum. When we went on the field trip…”

“Yeah,” Ethan interjected, coming up with the same idea as Conner, “and she disappeared for a while. When she came back, that’s when she started acting all weird.”

“Kim, you go to the museum and look for Kira. If you find her, join us on the battlefield if she’s okay. We’ll try to hold this thing off.

Kim nodded and grabbed Tommy’s hand in hers, giving it a squeeze before running out the door.

“Better take the raptors,” Tommy said to Ethan and Conner, making the young men’s eyes light up.

“You don’t have to convince me.”

Hurriedly the three morphed and jumped onto their bikes, heading out to stop the monster from Dr. O’s past.

-x-

After Kim had located Kira at the museum, they had hurried to join the rest of the team that was doing it’s best to keep from being made mincemeat by the monster and the Triptoids that had been released by Ethan’s journey into the video game world weeks earlier. Obviously Mesogog had located them and turned them into his newest minions.

When Kim and Kira arrived at the scene, they saw the Megazord doing battle with the Fossilator and Tommy fighting alone the Triptoids in hand to hand.

“You go help the boys, I’ll take care of Tommy,” announced Kim, and Kira nodded as they both hurried to their tasks.

“Hang on guys,” Kira said as she jumped up into the air and landed on her zord, soaring towards the incomplete Megazord.

“Kira!” Conner cried out, his heart starting to beat again in his chest at the normal sound of her voice.

As the fully formed team battled with the Fossilator, Kim came to Tommy’s aid.

“You look like you could use a hand,” Kim said as she launched over a parked car and shot at two Triptoids with her laser blaster.

“I have been known to take aid from sexy female power rangers,” Tommy replied as he struck one of the Triptoids with his staff.

“You damn well better have meant just me.”

“Only you Beautiful.”

Grinning behind her helmet, Kim launched herself into the fight, just as Tommy was sidetracked with Zeltrax. Even with two of the most experienced rangers ever, the odds were ridiculously stacked against them. They had to get Zeltrax to retreat, and soon.

Above them, Ethan, Kira and Conner continued to fight with the Fossilator, the Megazord barely holding its own.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Tommy got the upper hand with Zeltrax, striking him across his midsection with his staff and sending the cyborg flying into a parked car. As Mesogog’s henchmen pushed himself up to glare at Tommy, Kim came to his side in a show of unity, the majority of the Triptoids sprawled on the ground.

“Looks like you lose again,” Tommy said defiantly.

“It matters not Dr. Oliver. Your rangers are finished, and without them, you will be nothing.”

With that he opened an invisiportal and escaped, taking what remaining Triptoids that were still standing.

As soon as Zeltrax was gone, Kim and Tommy refocused on the battle above them.

“Should we call our zords and help?” Kim asked, her hand immediately going to her morpher.

“No, I have an idea,” Tommy replied, and he opened up the communications channel with the others. “Kira, aim for the spot where you put the missing bone. That’s where he’s most vulnerable.”

“You got it,” Kira replied through the channel. “Lock on – Tyrano Drill.”

With a precision strike, the team launched the drill arm of the Megazord into the spot Dr. O had directed them towards, the results causing the monster to explode.

Hurriedly the team joined Kim and Tommy on the ground, the teens receiving congratulations from both their teacher and their team mate.

“Okay… power down,” said Tommy, the threat now gone.

White light flashed as the team changed back to their civilian garb.

All except the black ranger.

“Tommy?” Kim questioned with a frightened tone in her voice as she noted that he’d not un-morphed.

“It’s happening again,” he said, his hands turning over back and forth as he looked at his still gloved fingers.

“But you changed back before,” said Conner, confused and a bit worried, but this time over Dr. O and not Kira.

“Yeah. How did you do that?” asked Ethan.

“I don’t know. I was trying to de-morph over and over again, and then suddenly I could…”

Kim watched as Tommy’s helmet swung her way, and she felt his gaze through his visor. Before she knew what he was doing, he’d caught her hand with his, and the same effect of his uniform sliding off him happened once again.

“What did you do?” Conner questioned, stunned to see Dr. O in his civilian clothes again.

“Pretty much what I did last time… Kim touched me.”

“You think I un-morphed you?” she asked, stunned.

“I don’t know. All I do know is that last time you touched my chest, and suddenly I was able to un-morph. The same thing happened when I grabbed your hand just now.”

“Wow. But why would Kim touching you have anything to do with whether or not you can un-morph?” asked Ethan.

“I don’t know. But hopefully Hayley can come up with a few ideas. Let’s head back to the cave.”

-x-

“So glad you’re back to normal Kira. You were pretty scary there for a while,” Conner said as they walked down the stairs into the command center to join Dr. O and Kim.

Kira looked back up at him with an apologetic gaze, and he felt his heart stutter in his chest.

“I’m so sorry I was mean to you guys. You know I didn’t mean any of it.”

“Don’t worry about it, seriously,” Ethan added.

“Yeah, I mean… I’m kind of getting used to it,” Conner said with a slightly sorrowful tone.

Her eyes went to his, and the hurt evident in them from the reminder of her not trusting in him enough to ask him about breaking their date had caused. Ethan immediately smacked Conner on the arm.

“See? That would be one of those things you say from time to time.”

“Oh… Kira, you know I…”

“It’s okay. I know what you meant,” she said with a small smile and reached to grab his hand in hers. “I’m just glad that everything worked out.”

“I think we all are,” Tommy said from where he was sitting at the console, Kim perched beside him. “But I think that there are still a lot of questions still to be answered.”


	13. Work It Out

“When do you think Hayley will have the results?” Kim asked as she sat beside Tommy on the couch, her hands on his as she wondered what she would do if one of these times he didn’t un-morph and she wasn’t able to touch his skin again.

Hayley had arrived and started running more tests an hour or so after the team had arrived in the cave. After what seemed an exhaustive length of time, Hayley had let Tommy go, stating that she was going to run the results over some of her other earlier findings and she’d call when she was done. That had been three hours ago, and Tommy and Kim were still waiting anxiously upstairs.

“Hopefully soon. It’s been a while, and I know she likes to double check her findings once she has a solution or at leas a reason. I think she’s really confused because she used the meteorite that changed the rest of the team, and none of you had this kind of problem, so she’s not sure exactly what it did to me.”

“I’m just glad you figured out that somehow my touch can get your uniform off.”

“Well, that’s nothing new,” Tommy said with a definite leer, and Kim fought a blush that had his heart racing.

Things had been going well in that regard, what with her accepting his offer to move into his place, but both of them been hesitant to take the next physical step… actually doing something other than sleeping in the bed that they called theirs.

As it was, Tommy was sure that everyone assumed that there was something of a more sexual nature going on when they hadn’t gotten past first base. In Kim’s mind, she was still concerned that there was something seriously wrong with Tommy’s uniform being stuck, and worried that with their luck it would pop back into existence just when they decided to… get jiggy.

And they had yet to really discuss that next step, so…

“Tommy, Kim… can you come down?” called Hayley from the basement.

Hurriedly the two moved to the kitchen trap door, climbing down the stairs and found Hayley looking at the monitor before her.

“Hey Hayley, do you have something?” asked Tommy, his hand wrapped around Kim’s tightly.

“I think so,” she said as she turned around in the console chair and regarded them both. “I ran the scans I took through a couple more scenarios, and I think I figured out what’s wrong.”

“Well?” questioned Kim anxiously.

“Based on the calculations, what we’re seeing is two radically different problems struggling against one another. When Tommy was trapped in the amber, somehow his morpher and his Dino Gem must have re-molecularized. So during the de-crystallization process, the two molecular structures coalesced into one, leaving Tommy as he was within the amber – in his armor.”

“So, you’re saying he should have been stuck in his uniform? Permanently?”

“Yeah, but what I hadn’t factored in was the properties of the meteor. When it was whole, it changed the rest of the team, allowing a part of yourselves that you keep buried to come forth.”

“Like Conner being smart and Kira being prim and girly,” Kim related, knowing that Tommy had missed that, and wasn’t about to mention her own diva tendencies.

“I’m still sorry I wasn’t around to see that. So Hayley, you think the meteor did something similar to me? I mean, I feel the same, and I don’t think I’m acting different than I normally do,” Tommy asked, and his eyes drifted from Kim to Hayley.

“I think that while I was using the meteor for its energy, it also provided you with a similar personality change as the rest of the team experienced,” Hayley said, her eyes watching Tommy and Kim, as she waited for the question that she knew was coming.

“But what kind of personality trait could Tommy have that he suppressed that would cause him to be able to un-morph, and for me to…” Kim began, and Tommy’s mouth dropped open and Hayley fought not to chuckle.

“Kim, Tommy’s had to shove down for years how he’s always felt for you; the emotions that make up his love for you. And that’s what I think the meteor tapped into.”

Kim’s eyes swung over to look at Tommy, and saw his head bowed, his free hand raking his hair.

“Tommy?”

“It makes sense… I… I’ve always loved you, and for so long I buried that under pain and anger. Even after we started dating, I still was reigning in everything you make me feel. So, maybe it targeted that part of me.”

“But how does that explain how when I touch you or you touch me you can un-morph.”

“Because you make a better *man* of me Kim.”

There was silence in the room and Hayley wondered if perhaps this was a good time to leave. Without saying anything, she snuck towards the back of the cave and slipped out the rear entrance. They could find her later…

Without an audience now, Tommy took a deep breath and let is out slowly. To tell her this last thing was to fully bare his soul and he wondered if this was what they needed to move to that next step…

“I’m two things Kim; a ranger and a man. While we were rangers, you were always there with your support. But beyond that, when I was a ranger, and when I wasn’t, you gave me your love as a man. You made me want to be a better man… and sometimes just because of you I was one. And I think that part of me; the man inside of me overcomes the ranger when you’re with me.”

Kim stared at this incredible man before her and fought to keep from crying outright. As it was, her eyes had misted over and she was sure that one more loving word would cause them to break. The idea that she could make him better than he already was… it was silly, but for the man who had dealt with all the guilt and pain he’d caused under the influence of evil, somehow it seemed to make all the sense in the world.

“So… I bring you back to being you?”

“I think so… it’s the only thing that makes sense as to why when you touch me when I’m stuck in my armor that it just melts away.”

“Wow. But what if…” she started, and Tommy could see the sudden concern on her face… it was echoed in his soul… if something happened to her while he was in uniform, would he ever be able to get it off? Would he even care?

“Kim, don’t... look, we know that as long as you’re here I can un-morph, so I don’t want you thinking like that. As it is, I’m gonna have Hayley keep researching until she finds a way to fix it, once and for all.”

Kim nodded, not at all surprised that he understood her concerns and had already decided on a course of action that would alleviate situation. It just made her love him more.

“Until then, we can go about as business as usual…” he started, and then stared at her intently as he let his sentence just hang.

Their eyes caught and the electricity that had been reawakened between them so many weeks ago crackled between them. They’d been taking things slowly, but now… maybe slow wasn’t what either of them wanted anymore.

“Or, we could take the next step?” Kim replied softly, her tongue unconsciously licking her lower lip.

“I was sort of hoping…”

Kim’s eyebrow arched ever so slightly as she favored Tommy with a sly grin.

“You couldn’t handle just sleeping in that bed of yours, huh?”

“If it’s too quick…” Tommy started to say as he hastily backpedaled from his previous thought.

Before he could finish what he was about to say, Kim caught his collar and pulled his head down to meet her lips in a fiery kiss that left neither of them in doubt that things had changed.

-x-

“No offense Dr. O, but you need some serious improvement when it comes to your organization.”

“That’s why you’re here. Thanks for helping me out.”

“No problem. Is Kim on her way down?”

“Yeah. She just had to finish up a call with her agent.”

Kira grinned. Ever since Jason had gone evil, the team had been watching Dr. O and Kim circle closer and closer. When she’d arrived a half hour ago, she’d knocked on the front door of the house and when Kim had answered it, everyone’s questions about when the two were finally hooking up was answered.

As it was, they both seemed deliriously happy, which considering she and Conner were felling pretty good made for an overall pretty happy team.

“What is all this stuff anyway?” she asked, waving her hand over the boxes of stuff Dr. O had been storing in the cave since moving in.

“Odds and ends. Mostly from before I joined up with Mercer.”

Sifting through the first few items, Kira fought a smile as she found something really old; a picture of the original team with Jason in red, Kim in pink and Dr. O in green with a slicked back ponytail.

“Wow. Nice hair,” commented Kira.

“Hey, it was the style back then,” Tommy defended quickly as he glanced at the picture with a small smile.

Those were good days… well, mostly.

“And it was sexy as hell,” said Kim as she came into the room and looked over Kira’s shoulder at the photo.

“If you say so,” Kira remarked before moving onto the next picture. “Is this who I think it is?”

“Man, that seems like a lifetime ago. This picture was taken at our first dig.”

“Who’s that guy?”

“His name’s Terrance Smith. Everyone called him Smitty.”

“What happened to him?” Kim asked, hearing the note of sadness in Tommy’s voice, and he swung his gaze to meet hers as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s kind of sad, really. He and I were up for the same job at Anton Mercer Industries. Anton chose me, so Smitty went to work for another company. Then there was this accident.”

“Not really a happy family memento,” commented Kira with a grimace.

“I’m not even sure where it came from. Just put it over there in that trash pile.”

“Okay,” Kira agreed, and dropped the picture in the box full of miscellaneous items.

“Please tell me you’re not throwing these in there too,” Kim asked, holding up the team picture and a photo of Tommy in his White Stranger garb.

“Not to worry Kim. Those have a special place in my heart, and will have a box of their own.”

Smiling, Kim turned her attention to the yellow ranger, who was sifting through another pile of photos and moved to help.

“So, how are you and Conner?” Kim asked as she started to help stack pictures and papers in piles.

“Good. We’re going to dinner Friday night.”

Kim gave a sideways glance to Tommy, and he rolled his eyes.

“More work, less talk,” he stated, settling everyone into a comfortable silence as he pondered his past as Kim and Kira sorted it all into chronological stacks.

-x-

The following day, the kids were back in class and Ethan found himself wandering alone from his Trig class to run into Conner with his soccer pal that had nearly destroyed his laptop. The two were leaned up against the wall by the stairs, and Ethan wondered again what charity case this guy was that Conner was being nice to him, considering what an ass he seemed to be.

They were the team mates, not Conner and this jerk.

“Hey Conner, did you get the answer to number 5 on Dr. O’s homework? It’s gotta be a trick question.”

“Do you know this guy,” stated the jerk with the bad kick as he looked at Conner.

“What’s that got to do with you?” asked Ethan, waiting for Conner to speak up.

“Look geek boy, isn’t there some kind of sci-fi convention that you need to go to?”

“Oh you really are cliché, aren’t you? Your parents must be so proud.”

Conner looked on at Ethan with a new found respect. He was taking it to Derrick, and maybe with everything they’d learned, he could actually clean his clock. But Derrick was his soccer team mate… he needed to let the two of them sort this out on their own.

“What did you just call me? What did he just call me?” questioned Derrick, looking back to Conner.

“Why are you asking him? Can’t you figure it out for yourself?”

“That is it, you’re in need of a serious lesson.”

“Oh! Fine – bring it,” replied Ethan, taking off his backpack in preparation of taking this guy down a peg or two.

“Ethan, are you sure you wanna do this?” Conner said quickly as he began to move between the two, knowing that Dr. O wouldn’t condone this kind of behavior.

“Look, stay out of this McKnight,” growled Derrick, putting a hand against Conner’s chest and nearly pushing him away. “This is between me and the geek.”

Suddenly the bell rung, sounding the end of the break and the need for everyone to get to their next class. If they stayed, they’d be sent to detention or worse…

“You know what? For the first time in my life, I actually wanna go to class,” interjected Conner as he moved the two potential combatants away from one another. “So come on guys.”

Moving Derrick along, Conner headed towards one hall, leaving Ethan standing there. But Derrick broke away briefly to catch Ethan’s ear.

“You and me… after school. Your friend won’t be there to protect you.”

With a hard slap of his hand on Ethan’s shoulder, he rushed off to get to his class, leaving Ethan to wonder exactly how far high school team loyalty really would go with Conner. Picking up his back pack, he started to turn towards his class before hearing something outside. Moving to the door, he saw Zeltrax and a monster making their way through the school grounds.

“What now? Great, like I don’t have enough to think about,” he complained before going out to see what was up.

-x-

Behind his desk, the white ranger tapped his fingers on the hard wood surface and tried to not let his mind wander to his friends in Reefside. Because when he did that, other, less appealing thoughts seemed to come along with them for the ride.

A sudden knock at the door brought his head up, and Jason Scott found himself back in the moment – in his office in Angel Grove.

“Come in.”

The door pushed open, and an Asian, raven haired beauty poked her head around the door, causing Jason to grin.

“You still moping?” she asked with a tone that said she knew very well he was.

“No.”

“Liar.”

“Fine, I’m lying. Are you going to just bust my chops from there, or are you coming in here and telling me what’s so important that you’re knocking on the door,” Jason complained as he made a show of picking up a stack of folders containing the recent projects the company was bidding on and flipping through them.

With that gracious invitation, the former yellow ranger walked into the small office and sat down on the only chair in the room. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back on the upholstered cushions. Nailing him with an even stare, Jason dropped his act as he struggled to not wince under her scrutiny.

“You’ve been back for a week, and you’ve barely said ten words to anyone at a time unless they were about work. Kim said things were bad, and that you needed to get away, maybe unload on some friends who would understand, but Rocky says you haven’t talked to him, and you sure as hell haven’t spoken to me.”

Jason did wince this time, as one of the other reasons he had been avoiding discussing what had happened in Reefside with Trini was because of his growing attraction to a certain business owner and sometimes technical advisor to the team. When he’d left Reefside, he’d promised Hayley that he would be back, and when he came back, that he’d express his increasing appreciation for the red headed woman. But before him stood the other woman who had held sway to him for more years than he could count…

He wasn’t sure what to do and what to say.

“Jason?”

“Sorry Trini, I just… things happened and I’m still trying to figure out what it all means.”

“You remember when it was Tommy feeling like this. You and Kim spent the most amount of time with him, helping him realize that he wasn’t to blame for anything he’d done under Rita’s spell.”

“I remember. But it’s different when it’s you.”

“Bullshit,” she said, and Jason’s eyebrows rose. The soft spoken yet tough as nails woman rarely ever swore, but when she did, it meant that all hell was about to break loose. “You just don’t want to burden anyone. Just like Tommy didn’t. But Kim made him, and you helped. She said you might be stubborn, but I chose not to believe her. It looks like I was wrong.”

“You don’t understand…”

“How can I when you won’t say anything?”

“I nearly killed them!” Jason yelled, standing up and dropping the files to the floor in a huge mess as he did so. Leaning over the desk, he looked at his friend and one time girlfriend and stared back at her with all the anger he’d been directing at himself. “I turned Tommy into a massive frozen Popsicle and I nearly fired a laser directly into Kim’s chest at point blank range. I would have killed them and the others if Kim hadn’t figured a way to free me.”

“And Tommy didn’t try to kill you? That’s what happens Jason. This isn’t the first time you went through that. When you and Kim got back from Murithanis… you said nearly the same thing. But that wasn’t you and this time it wasn’t either. You have to let it go or you’re never going to get past this,” Trini said soothingly as she got up to round the desk and put one of her hands on his.

Jason looked away, but didn’t pull his hand from hers. This was the same thing he’d been trying to get his mind around for days. But his heart and soul kept arguing that he needed to suffer some more.

Except that suffering wasn’t helping anyone… not him, Kim, Tommy, the team, Trini… Hayley.

“It wasn’t just that,” he finally said quietly and Trini moved to catch his eyes as he started to look up at her. “I also feel like I betrayed you too.”

Trini shook her head in confusion. “How…”

“I met someone in Reefside. We sort of… clicked. The more I was around her, I found myself becoming… attracted to her.”

“And this affects me how?”

“We, you… I… I thought…”

She smiled indulgently and moved to get Jason back in his seat. Once he sat down again, she sat on the edge of the desk, facing him.

“If this was a year ago, then yes, maybe you might have betrayed me. But Jason, we tried being a couple and it just didn’t work. When we went our separate ways, I didn’t expect that some day you would come to your senses and run back to me. I knew that one day you would meet someone, and that’s fine. We both moved on.”

The way she said moved on, he looked at her intently and saw her eyes dart off and the faintest blush stain her cheeks. She was dating someone? How had he missed it?

“Who?”

She instantly knew what he meant, and gave a small grin that was both wry and sweet at the same time.

“We didn’t mean for it to happen. I mean, what with working together and us having the same ‘background’… we’d end up talking about the old days and then…”

Jason stared at her for a while, his already confused mind getting more puzzled. Then everything she said finally fell into place and his mouth flopped open like a fish, his eyes widening.

“You and Rocky?” Jason said with shock.

“What? He’s a really good guy, funny, loyal, a fair martial artist,” she stated with her own brand of chauvinism, as she had long surpassed most of the guys who had been rangers in that field years ago, “we have a lot in common, and enough not to keep things interesting.”

“No, I mean, that’s great, he is a great guy. I wouldn’t have hired him otherwise. I’m just… wow, surprised as hell. When did this happen?”

“A few months back.”

Nodding, Jason realized that things with him and Trini had truly been over when they’d called their relationship off a year ago. Only his misconception that they might get back together again had kept him from moving on. Now that he knew that his relationship with Trini was a non-issue, it was up to him to go back to Reefside and see if he and Hayley really did have something.

Which meant getting out of his funk and going back.

“I’m glad for you both. And thanks for listening. You were right, I did need to get over a lot of this. Now that I think I can manage, I… I’m going to go back and finish what I started.”

The former yellow ranger smiled and patted Jason’s hand before getting up from her place on his desk.

“I’ll let Rocky know he’s back to being the boss.”

Nodding, Jason turned to clean up the files along with his desk before planning to head back to his place to pack up his things before driving back to Reefside.

-x-

Having been lured out to meet the monster, the team had used the combined Z-Rex blaster on it, destroying it, only to have Mesogog reconstitute it bigger. Now they faced both Zeltrax and the super-sized monster.

“You go take care of that… Zeltrax is mine.”

Kim looked to Tommy, and he nodded. Usually they stayed together, but this time, with Zeltrax’s previous demands for Tommy to meet him on the battlefield alone, Tommy had hoped to perhaps finally finish this rivalry for once and for all.

Once the team and Kim were gone, Tommy and Zeltrax pulled their weapons and faced off. With a short run, they launched at one another, clashing in the center of the abandoned warehouse lot. Falling apart, they landed on their feet and began to battle in earnest, weapons and feet flying as they continued their on again, off again battle.

Spinning into the air, their weapons sparked as they struck, and then they landed on the ground again, now separated by ten or so feet. When Tommy’s feet hit the pavement, he stood and shook his head in continued amazement at why Zeltrax always seemed after him.

“I’m getting pretty sick of meeting like this. I wish you’d just tell me what it is you have against me,” Tommy said loudly, expecting more of the same rhetoric he was used to from the cyborg before him.

Then he was surprised to actually have Zeltrax start to speak… something other than threats.

“Does the name Terrence Smith mean anything to you?”

Stunned, Tommy lowered his head as he remembered the picture he’d just thrown away, “Smitty?”

Looking up, he found that Zeltrax had used his distraction to advance on him, and sliced his sword across his chest, throwing up white sparks. Hurriedly he brought his staff up to parry, the force of Zeltrax’s attack making him backpedal.

Then with a driving, violent attack, Zeltrax struck Tommy hard twice, sending him flying into a stack of drums, rocks and other industrial trash. As Tommy fought to get up, he watched the cyborg standing in front of him with new eyes.

“Smitty?” he asked carefully as he stood. “But, you were lost in that accident?”

“I was on a verge of a breakthrough… when it all went wrong. Mesogog found me and put me back together again. He’s a genius with cybernetic reconstruction.”

“Oh man… Smitty.”

The moment of Tommy’s guilt and concern was over in an instant when Zeltrax attacked again, forcing Tommy to defend himself from the person he remembered as a good guy and good friend. Perhaps, he thought there was something left of that man inside Zeltrax’s armor.

“Genius or not, he’s the enemy!” Tommy argued as he locked their weapons together to keep them close as he made his case. “You shouldn’t be fighting for him!”

“He game me life. Life you stole from me. And now you will repay him with your own!”

Breaking the lock, Zeltrax launched another attack, his sword sweeping through the air with a angry frenzy, forcing Tommy to once again block and backpedal.

“Don’t do this Smitty! Revenge is never the answer!”

“It’s all that has kept me going!”

With that, he landed a brutal kick to Tommy’s chest, sending him flying into the building’s far wall.

“Revenge is mine.”

“My advice is to find another hobby,” Tommy said as he shoved himself up.

As Tommy ran towards him, Zeltrax fired lighting bolts at the black ranger’s advancing form, which Tommy deflected away with his staff. He jumped in the air and landed a double heel kick to the torso of Zeltrax, sending him flying. As the cyborg struggled to get up, Tommy waited, hoping that he might stay down.

“Give it up Zeltrax.”

“Never.”

“I hate to do this Smitty. Dino Energy Orb! Fire!”

Tommy whirled his staff in a 360 arc and produced the violet orb and sent it at Zeltrax. The energy orb struck his sword, which he had put up to try and deflect the attack, but it was too much power, and sent dark lighting strikes through Zeltrax’s armor, dropping him to the ground.

“Had enough?”

Zentrax slowly pushed himself to a standing position, and defiantly said, “I’ll be back – I’ll promise you that.”

Then he called an invisiportal and disappeared, leaving Tommy to consider what his friend had become.

-x-

After finishing the monster, the team had gone back to their respective lives. Ethan had resolved his confrontation with Derrick with a technical solution to Derrick’s kicking problem, and Kim and Tommy had met back at the house after he’d finished up all his paperwork at school. They had discussed Zeltrax’s claim, and while Kim wasn’t sure if they should believe him, Tommy assured her that he believed the cyborg’s story. After what was a long and heartfelt discussion, Kim had gotten Tommy to acknowledge that Smitty’s anger at him was totally misplaced, and that he shouldn’t feel anything but pity for the insane cyborg.

Finally they’d settled in for the night, having some dinner and then curling up on the couch, Kim’s head resting on Tommy’s chest as he turned on the TV. Just as he flipped the station to a new game show that looked sort of interesting, they heard a thud and then a rattle at the door and they jumped up immediately from the couch, ready to fight.

“Hey guys, guess who’s back?” announced Jason as he strolled into the front door of the house to find Tommy and Kim nearly in battle ready stances.

“Wow, déjà vu…” remarked Kim with a slight laugh as she relaxed, recalling another time when a white ranger had come back to the fold, and her eyes swung to the man beside her as she watched him remember the same thing.

“Yeah, but at least you didn’t faint this time,” ribbed Tommy quietly, and she smacked him hard on the shoulder before moving to give Jason a huge hug, Tommy following right behind her.

Once Kim released Jason, Tommy and Jason shook hands and came in for their traditional one armed hug.

“It’s good to have you back bro.”

“Good to be back. So, who’s going to fill me in on what’s been going on while I’ve been gone?” Tommy and Kim looked at one another guiltily and Jason groaned. “Please tell me you still have the lease on your apartment Kim… I really don’t want to go check into a hotel.”

Kim blushed and Tommy glared at his friend, before the three broke into laughter.


	14. Other Side of the World

As Conner and Kira entered the darkened Cybercafe, they were assaulted by the sounds of TV set at the far end of the building near the front door. They looked at one another in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

“No clue,” replied Kira.

The sound of switching channels and Ethan’s laughter carried in the silent café as Conner and Kira made their way to the large screen TV and the overstuffed sofa behind it.

“Dude, what are you doing? We were supposed to meet at the library,” asked Conner as they rounded the TV to find Ethan laid out on the couch, bowl of popcorn on his lap and clicker in hand.

“Hayley got a new satellite dish. 937 channels of paradise,” explained Ethan as if that was the most logical thing in the world.

“900 channels and I bet there’s still never anything on,” snarked Kira.

“Are you kidding? This is amazing! Foreign language soap operas, sumo wrestling, Junior Girls High School synchronized swimming; I may never leave this room again!”

And on that note, Conner reached around the TV and pushed the off button.

“Hey, I was watching that.”

“What about your social studies assignment on comparing two countries?” asked Conner in his best leader/responsible person voice.

“I’m almost done,” complained Ethan.

“Me too,” added Kira, moving to join Ethan on the couch.

“Yeah, well, I haven’t started. I’ll see you guys later,” Conner announced, admitting his defeat, and quickly moved to give Kira a kiss on the cheek before turning to leave.

Ethan turned the TV back on and started flipping channels. Suddenly a cheery musical tune in Japanese started to play and Ethan and Kira both sat up in their seats.

“No way!” exclaimed Ethan. “Conner, you gotta see this.”

“What?”

As Conner moved back to the sofa, Ethan scooted over to let him sit next to Kira as before them, the Red Ranger in all his Dino Thunder glory appeared in a circling camera shot.

“Whoa. It’s us!” Kira said astonished.

“Not exactly,” remarked Conner as a Japanese man was shown morphing into the Blue Ranger’s uniform.

“According to the satellite guide, it’s a Japanese show about the world-famous Power Rangers. They even dubbed it in English!”

“We’re a TV show in Japan? I gotta see this,” interjected Kira as Conner started to munch popcorn from Ethan’s discarded bowl.

“Look, there’s Dr. O!” Ethan pointed out, until the Black Ranger morphed into another Japanese dude. “Maybe not.”

“It looks whack,” complained Conner, still eating popcorn.

“How do you know its whack? You haven’t even given it a chance.”

“It wasn’t even made here. I mean, what would they know about Power Rangers in Japan?”

“Only one way to find out. I, for one, wanna know what they think of us,” remarked Kira, turning to Ethan and proceeding to give a unity handshake of support to watch the show.

“Uh huh!”

Conner sighed and then settled in to watch with the others what he was sure was going to be crap.

-x-

“You have to come and see it,” said Conner as he, Kira and Ethan stormed into the cave, finding Jason, Kim and Dr. O reviewing footage of what seemed to be previous battles.

“See what?” asked Tommy, swinging around in the center console chair so he could level his students and team mates with a focused stare.

“Hayley got a satellite dish. It’s got like a billion shows from everywhere,” announced Ethan with a wide grin. “And we’re on it!”

“What?” questioned Jason in a near exclamation as he stood nervously.

The three teens pulled up short. They didn’t know Jason was back, and they immediately moved to show their happiness at his return.

“Hey Jason! Good to have you back,” stated Conner, moving to shake the white ranger’s hand.

“We were starting to wonder if you were gonna stay in Angel Grove,” added Ethan, likewise grasping Jason’s hand in greeting.

“It’s a good thing you finally came back… Dr. O is having problems with his morphing,” commented Kira before giving him a hug, and prompting Jason to look to his friends.

“Long story. Short version is that Hayley’s working on fixing the morphing problem, but for the most part, I’m good. So, what’s this about a TV show?” explained Tommy succinctly.

“It’s a Japanese TV show with rangers!” gushed Ethan.

“It’s so cool!” exclaimed Kira happily.

“You have to come. We told Hayley to keep the sofa empty until we got back. There’s supposed to be another block of episodes in an hour, so we just have time…” Conner explained in a rush, making the older members of the team cringe slightly at the hyper-interest of the younger members of the team.

“Whoa, slow down, okay?” interjected Kim, looking from Tommy to Jason and realizing that someone had to figure out what the hell was going on here. “You said ‘we’ were on TV. What do you mean?”

“It’s a power rangers TV show, and they have all of us – the red ranger, yellow, blue, black… all of us. Well, except it’s not really us,” Kira attempted to explain, but started to frown as she felt she wasn’t describing it right.

“They’re Japanese actors. And they story lines are really weird. I mean, half the time they don’t make any sense. And the monsters are all so fake looking,” interjected Ethan, adding to Kira’s description and making the older members of the team start to get the picture.

“So, they’re pretending to be the dino thunder rangers, but they don’t know anything about us?” Tommy asked finally.

“Nope, although they got the morphing call right. Not sure how they did that,” Ethan remarked confused.

“Okay, now I’m interested,” added Jason, smiling slightly, also relieved at the kids unreserved welcome of him after the rampage of the evil white ranger. “Besides, I could really go for a cappuccino.”

“You just want to see Hayley,” whispered Kim close to Jason’s ear, and he cuffed her playfully.

“All right, let’s go… I can see that any battle analysis isn’t going to get done today,” sighed Tommy as Kim and Jason nearly hauled him up and followed the kids.

-x-

“Hey,” said Hayley as she saw the team troop in with the older members in tow, her eyes lighting up at the arrival of Jason along with the group. “I see you got them all to come.”

“It wasn’t too hard. Dr. O was the difficult one to convince. Jason and Kim actually wanted to come.”

Hayley’s eyebrows lifted at that remark, and Jason averted his eyes. He had planned on seeing her soon after his arrival in town, but this was less than 24 hours… a lot faster than he planned. He knew that there was still a lot to be said, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to say any of those things yet.

“Can we get something to drink?” Conner questioned of Hayley, breaking her focus on the White Ranger.

“Preferably with alcohol,” grumbled Tommy until Kim leaned over and kissed him softly, and he smiled.

“Come on, let’s sit down… it should be starting soon.”

The six rangers moved to the window near the front of the café, taking up seats around the big screen TV. Ethan scooped up the remote and flopped down on one end of the huge red sofa, Kira and Conner sitting together at the other end. Jason found one overstuffed armchair at one end, while Tommy sat in a second across from his friend, Kim perching on the arm. Once she was settled, Tommy wrapped an arm around her back and tucked her into his side, his head leaning slightly into her side.

“Okay… here we go,” gushed Ethan, flipping on the set and starting the show.

“Ooh, it’s a new one!” commented Kira, as she snuggled into Conner.

Kim looked from the set to the Yellow Ranger as she cuddled with the Red Ranger and smiled. At this rate, over half the team would be dating someone… a ranger first. Then the music started on the set, and her eyes swung back just in time to see the credits roll, and she threw a hand to her mouth to smother the giggles that were trying to break free.

“Wow, he has worse hair than you ever did Tommy,” joked Jason as the Black Ranger appeared on the screen.

“Hey! At least my Japanese ranger is taller than the girls,” Tommy snarked back as the White Ranger was introduced as a much shorter man than Jason was.

“Aren’t all Japanese shorter anyway?” asked Conner, prompting a groan from several people and a poke in the ribs from Kira.

“Sorry, he’s still suffering from “America is the greatest country ever and everywhere else sucks” itus,” offered Kira as apology for Conner’s insensitivity.

“Okay everyone, can we settle down? The credits are over… the show is starting,” complained Ethan, nearly shushing everyone.

As the team on the screen huddled in the ‘secret’ lair and discussed doing something totally silly, Kim sighed and everyone looked at her.

“I’m just in awe that someone could think that ‘this’ is what we do when we’re not saving the world,” she explained.

“Would you rather them think that the Purple and Black Ranger were screwing like rabbits?” tossed back Jason, making Kim shoot daggers at him with her eyes.

“Whoa! Too much information!” called out Kira, as Conner and Ethan gulped and focused directly on the show before them.

“If you wouldn’t mind, we’re trying to watch this show,” complained Tommy, frowning at his best friend. He thought of Jason as a brother, but the constant ribbing about his and Kim’s relationship was starting to wear thin.

“Okay, sorry. I’ll lay off, okay?”

Tommy nodded as the team was called in to fight the new monster the villain had sent to attack the city. The teens started laughing as the lipstick monster began to paint the town red… and blow it up.

“Don’t laugh,” said Kim with a frown. “We fought a lipstick monster once.”

“You’re kidding!” Conner said with a stunned look.

“Zedd took some of the contents from my purse and well…”

Tommy grasped Kim’s hand, remembering that interrupted date. At least now they didn’t have to worry about Mesogog throwing a real wrench in their relationship.

“You know, I just realized, I think I’m offended,” Jason announced suddenly.

“Why?” asked Ethan, curious.

“We were the first team, and we never had a TV show about us,” said Jason, waving towards the team calling their zords as the monster grew to gigantic proportions on the screen. “It’s only now, after years and a lot of luck that Kim, Tommy and I am back that we’re being turned into Japanese stars.”

“Well, maybe, but are you sure? Did you ever check Japanese TV back when you were first rangers? For all we know, they’ve had a team show for every incarnation of rangers?” Kira questioned, making Tommy, Kim and Jason wonder.

“I guess I’m going to have to do some internet research,” Tommy said as Kim and Jason nailed him with a stare, as the PhD had the best Google and research skills among the three of them.

“God, that would have been funny. I wonder if they had Zedd…”

“Or Zordon,” Tommy remarked, making Kim and Jason frown slightly.

“Okay, they’re going all Megazord on the monster!” Ethan exclaimed, bringing them all back to the show, and they watched as the team on the screen dispatched with the Tyrano Drill the lipstick monster, making the world safe for cosmetics again.

As the end credits began to run, the three teens looked hopefully to the older members of the team.

“Well? Wasn’t it cool?” asked Ethan with a huge grin.

“Okay, it was kinda cool,” admitted Tommy grudgingly, and the three teens started a round of high fives and congratulations. “I still think my hair is better than the Black Ranger.”

“Of course it is handsome,” Kim said soothingly as she leaned down to kiss his cheek.

“So, another episode?” questioned Conner, and the three older rangers gave a slight groan.

It was going to be a long day.

-x-

“So, you moved out of Tommy’s place,” Hayley commented to Jason as the rest of the team continued to watch the fourth episode in a row of the Japanese ranger show, while Kim and Tommy seemed to have slipped off for home without anyone really noticing.

Jason nodded, realizing that Hayley was warming up to the big question, and he knew he could either take the plunge himself or wait for her to say something. But he was a leader, a ranger… he could do this.

“Yeah. Kim and I sort of switched living arrangements. Although I wasn’t sleeping in Tommy’s bed.”

Hayley gave a slightly surprised look at the frankness in his statement. She had guessed that maybe Tommy and Kim’s relationship had finally gone that final step, but to hear it from Jason just validated her theory.

“I guess that means you have your own place.”

“It does.”

“You planning on any visitors?”

Jason fought the blush that her straight forward comment brought up in him, and looked at the striking red head on the other side of the counter. Reaching across the Formica he caught one of her hands in his.

“I’d like to ask you to dinner first. See if this really is something. Then maybe if it is, we can see about, after a suitable period of dating, you could come by my place for a drink…” Jason suggested with a small grin.

“I’d like that.”

“Okay, well then… Friday then? Although… I’ll need a recommendation for a restaurant.”

Hayley laughed and smiled at Jason, placing her other hand over his.

“I think I can help you out.”


	15. The Power

Kira, Ethan and Conner strode into the Cyberspace, finding Hayley behind the counter, writing up table tickets with a huge grin on her face. Kira gave a knowing grin and headed straight for the red head, Ethan hot behind her.

“Someone looks pretty happy today,” Ethan said with a smirk.

“Oh hey. It’s just so good to have Jason back.”

“Yeah, with the ‘attitude adjustment’, he’s back to normal, and likeable…” Conner added with his own knowing smile.

Jason’s planned date with Hayley was the hot team news. Other than Dr. O and Kim seemingly shacked up together.

“Two more Cyberberry Blasts, please,” said Trent suddenly as he flew past Conner and to the far end of the counter.

While the two had given each other cold stares every time they’d been in the same place, Conner had stayed true to his word to Kira. He hadn’t laid the asshole out. At least not yet. As long as Trent kept his hands off, so would Conner.

Trent got the drinks and hurriedly left the counter, leaving Conner staring after him, and Kira watching Conner.

-x-

“You see My Lord, a completely evil White Ranger. Completely devoid of pathetic human traits,” stated Zeltrax in Mesogog’s throne room as he presented the copy of the White Ranger he had created using the scans of the original White Ranger when the crystal had been incorporated with the white gem.

While that had not been its main purpose, the data gathered before the crystal’s destruction had provided them with the evil template to make the ranger before them. One that would do Mesogog’s bidding, unlike the real White Ranger.

“Zeltrax, you have done well,” Mesogog praised as he watched the footage of the clone attack a room of monsters.

“Ooh, I hate to admit it, but even I’m impressed,” added Elsa at Mesogog’s side.

“So tell me, what is your plan?”

“Allow me to demonstrate,” replied Zeltrax, bowing as he moved to where the White Ranger clone was strapped unconscious to a gurney, he moved it closer to the others. “Using a sample of the White Ranger’s cloned energy will allow me to create a being of unparalleled terror. I give you, the White Pterosaurus.”

At that, a monstrous looking creature, almost a parody of the White Ranger armor erupted from Mesogog’s monster creation chamber.

“Ah, excellent.”

-x-

After Conner’s misadventure speaking with the Russian exchange student, the three of them had headed out. While Conner continued to be upset, Kira attempted to calm down her boyfriend, suggesting the young man might have had a good reason for blowing the red ranger off.

As Conner continued to belabor the issue, Ethan sighed and threw up his hands.

“Look, I’d love to stay and hash this out with you guys, but if I don’t get to the library soon, I’m totally gonna fail this project.”

With a conciliatory pat to the back, Ethan left Conner to start for the library when he barely got five steps before hearing a voice that none of them wanted to hear.

“Then prepare to fail, Blue Ranger,” announced Zeltrax as he appeared from nowhere.

Ethan hurriedly moved to join the others, all of them falling into battle stance.

“I knew I should’ve gone straight there,” complained Ethan.

With a snap of his cyborg fingers, two white blurs zoomed past the rangers, sending them to the ground.

“Ha ha ha… good work.”

“Mm, didn’t even break a sweat,” said the White Ranger standing beside Zeltrax and a monster that looked eerily similar to the ranger.

“Jason?” Kira whispered.

“This can’t be real,” said Ethan in shock.

“Oh, it’s real,” said the White Ranger before them.

“What are you doing Jason?” Conner asked forcefully as he got up to prepare himself for the worst.

“I don’t know a Jason,” replied the White Ranger. “I just know that you will soon be… destroyed.”

“I’m so not in the mood for this. Ready?”

“Ready,” replied Kira and Ethan as they moved to follow Conner’s lead to morph.

“DinoThunder power up. Hah!”

In an instant of light and thunder, the three transformed into their uniforms, preparing for battle.

“Wait,” Zeltrax ordered, pushing past his creations. “Allow me. Ha!”

As Zeltrax charged the three rangers, the White Ranger clone turned to the White Pterosaurus.

“Let’s get a better view, right?”

The two then leapt three stories to stand on the staircase outside the building the fight was beginning in front of, the White Ranger clone leaning on the railing with a menacing laugh. Below, the rangers had begun to attack Zeltrax with their lasers which the cyborg blocked with his shield. Sending a bolt of lighting, Zeltrax knocked Conner to the ground, only to have Kira and Ethan come to block him from Mesogog’s henchman’s view.

Again they fired on Zeltrax, his shield deflecting the blasts and he leapt to engage them in close combat, his sword slicing at them. The fight went back and forth, until Conner, having lost his own laser gun, had Kira and Ethan throw him theirs, blasting Zeltraz with a double barreled jolt of energy.

The blast sent Zeltrax flying, and as he lay prone on the ground, the White Pterosaurus and the White Ranger appeared before him.

“So you stopped Zeltrax. Try to stop my Pterosaurus.”

“Let me show you the extent of my powers. You will be defeated,” it said as it waived a clawed hand at them.

“Not on my watch!” said a familiar voice from behind the villains as Jason appeared on his cycle, blasting at the three opponents between him and the team. As he skidded to a halt before the rangers, he jumped from the ATV in preparation for some more fighting. “Yeah. Hey guys, thought I’d join the fun.”

“Wait, who’s who?

“Guys, it’s me.”

“Enjoy your reunion while you can. Nothing you do can stop us now,” said the other White Ranger before the three teleported away in an invisiportal.

“Okay, power down,” said the White Ranger before them, revealing Jason to the team. “You guys okay?”

“Great,” replied Conner, now back in civilian form. “You got a twin brother you never told us about?”

Jason sighed. There never seemed to be a moment when the rangers could catch a break.

“Come on… let’s get back to the command center and see if Tommy and Hayley can figure out who my doppelganger is.”

-x-

“Okay, we barely get one White Ranger under control and then another one shows up,” complained Kira as she paced the floor of the command center.

At the console, Tommy sat with Kim and listened to the tale of the duplicate White Ranger. Ever so often, one of them would look to Jason with mixed looks of concern and frustration.

“Any idea of who it could be?” asked Kim.

“I don’t have a clue,” replied Jason sorrowfully.

“My sensors show it’s some kind of cloned energy force,” Tommy said finally after turning away from the team to review the results of his scans. “It’s probably not even a living being at all.”

“Yeah, he may not be alive, but his kick sure felt real,” griped Conner, still sore about the beating they all had taken until Jason’s timely rescue.

“I never said he wasn’t real. He’s a threat all right.”

“Now that that’s settled, what’s with that Pterosaurus?” questioned Ethan. “Man, he was raggedy.”

“He’s giving off some of the other readings as the other White Ranger. It’s almost like they were one and the same,” Tommy explained.

“I knew it… we didn’t break the evil spell on Jason!” Conner started, moving as if aggravated.

“We did!” argued Kim as Tommy moved to intercept the Red Ranger. “This isn’t Jason’s fault. Mesogog did this.”

“Kim’s right Conner. Right now, we need backup, big time.”

“What kind of back up?” asked Conner.

“The Shield of Triumph,” answered Tommy, knowing that he needed to explain his next actions. “It’s something that I found… and I think it’s time to pull it from its hiding place.”

“So, it’s a shield? Like Ethan’s?” asked Conner, confused.

“In some ways, but with it you’ll gain some incredible powers,” Tommy explained.

“Where is it?” Questioned Ethan, excited by a new technological discovery.

“It’s in the remote forest area outside of Reefside.”

“And…” Kira asked, feeling like Dr. O was leaving off something.

“Jason and I need to go find it.”

“What about me... I mean us?” asked Kim suddenly, the prospect of Tommy leaving to find this shield without her disturbing, even if he was going to take Jason along to watch his back.

“Jason’s powers will allow him to retrieve the shield, and only I know where it is. When we bring back the shield, you, Kira and Ethan will be able to transfer your powers through it, but Jason and I will need to charge it with ours to start with. Besides, while we’re gone, someone will have to keep an eye on them,” Tommy noted as he looked from his girlfriend to the three teens past her shoulder.

“You just want to ditch me,” she said with a sarcastic tone.

“Oh yeah, I mean satisfying you nightly is just such a chore I need some ‘me’ time,” he snarked back even as his hand moved to cup her cheek, and the teens all made shows of cringing at the idea of their teacher and his girlfriend… talking about having sex.

“Okay you two, break it up before we have to pay for their psychotherapy,” interrupted Jason, moving to Tommy’s side. “Sounds like fun. When do we leave?”

“Now.”

“So, while you two are off playing Indiana Jones, what do we do?” asked Conner dejectedly.

“Try homework.”

The teens cringed and Kim fought back a grin. Before anything else could be said, Tommy moved to Kim’s side and kissed her soundly. Releasing her, Jason came and hugged her, and then the two of them were off.

-x-

“So… how are you doing since you got back. Really?” asked Tommy as they walked through the woods, crossing a stream as they followed a path only the Black Ranger knew.

“As good as could be expected.”

“The time in Angel Grove seemed to be good for you.”

“Yeah. I was really sulking and Trini…” Jason started, and then started to quiet, remembering the near argument he’d had with his one time paramour and employee.

“Smacked you upside the head?” Tommy offered up, and looked back to see a smile of fondness appear on his friend’s face.

“Exactly. I’m still shocked about her and Rocky.”

“Opposites attract sometimes. They have a few things that they’re both really good at and they work together… you should know all about that, Mr. “I just asked out the technician for the team” Scott.”

Jason flushed as they pushed through another stand of overgrown brush and trees.

“Hayley’s a wonderful woman. When she called me and Kim to come rescue you, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. I remember meeting her briefly when I saw you before you went to Anton’s little island retreat, but we hadn’t really interacted that time.”

“You realize she’s a good friend, and if you hurt her I’ll have to beat the shit outta you.”

“Same goes for Kim. Things really changed while I was gone, didn’t they?” Jason asked, knowing that before his turn to evil that Kim and Tommy were just falling back in love. Now…

Tommy heard the true meaning to Jason’s words. He didn’t mean just while he was in Angel Grove, but the weeks he was enslaved to the evil crystal as well.

“We got through the hard times together. It was different, you know, being in your role, with her beside me. I don’t know if I would have handled it as well as I did if she hadn’t been here,” Tommy admitted.

“Then I guess you’re lucky you didn’t send her packing like Kim thought you were going to do when you first realized she’d come to save you.”

“I never wanted her to leave… I told her that when we first talked about everything. I just was worried about her breaking my heart again.”

“Instead you’re working on breaking your box springs and head board,” Jason snipped with a grin and a punch to his friend’s shoulder.

“Keep digging a hole Jase… I’m so gonna give you grief when you and Halyey start the horizontal tango in the Cyberspace back room.”

“Okay, I’ll ease up,” Jason relented. “You know I’m just really happy for you both, and damn glad you finally realized that you belonged together.”

“Well I’m happy for us too. I never would have thought that when Kim cut me out of her life that we’d find each other again in these kind of circumstances.”

“You mean rangers or lovers?”

“Both I guess. You know we were sleeping together while you were… gone. Just sleeping, mind you. I hadn’t been able to get more than a few hours and she was having the same problem. It just made sense to try and find some comfort… but as time went on, I realized what we were doing was just playing house when were at the point in our relationship that we didn’t need to play at it anymore,” Tommy tried to explain, but felt like he was failing miserably.

“I get it,” Jason replied, and Tommy nodded, knowing that if anyone would, it would be Jason.

“Well that’s good because we’re here,” Tommy said as they rounded a bend and came across a large waterfall.

“It’s here?”

“Yep, it’s there. In the water. Okay, raise your arms like this…”

Tommy lifted his forearm so the morpher faced the water. Jason nodded and matched his movements.

“Now concentrate. Use the Dino Gem power.”

Focusing their minds on the task at hand, Tommy and Jason closed their eyes, mentally guiding the power of the Dino Gems into solid beams of light that wove together and into the water pooling beneath the waterfall. Where the two beams struck, the water bubbled. Then, a shape emerged from the water, bright like a white hot poker.

“There it is!” cried Tommy as he opened his eyes to see the shield, and Jason quickly looked as well.

“It’s working!”

“Don’t break the concentration. Stay focused.”

-x-

As Tommy and Jason fought to gain the shield, the White Pterosaurus had attacked, and Kim had relented to Conner’s pleas that they needed to take it down. They’d fought with it, losing their zords until Conner had staggered at one point, the image of something he couldn’t define striking him at the same time as the Black and White rangers impressed their will on the shield…

-x-

Tommy and Jason continued to hold the shield, but they couldn’t bring it from the water. The longer this went on, the more likely Tommy knew they would lose it. He had to get it to the shore, and he needed Jason’s help to do that.

“Tommy… it’s slipping. I can’t hold it much longer.”

“Don’t let go. If we lose it now it’s gone forever.”

They fought to stay focused, but Jason was getting drained. His arm began to slip, and Tommy felt the ripple in the energy streams.

Suddenly, Conner appeared from nowhere, the second image of the shield bringing him to Jason and Tommy’s aid, their location somehow calling him. He leapt through the air, and pulled the shield from the energy cocoon Tommy and Jason’s powers had held it in mid air with.

He caught the pure white shield and landed in a crouch on the bank of the lake.

“How’s that for timing?” Conner said with a triumphant air.

“Never better. Thanks,” Jason remarked sarcastically as he staggered with Tommy.

“You got the shield’s telepathic message,” Tommy said in wonder. “It proves I was right. It proves you’re ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“To take on the mantle of a leader. Take the shield and have the others transfer their energy to the shield. When that happens… you’ll know what to do.”

Conner nodded and rushed to join Kim, Kira and Ethan in the field of battle.

“We’ll catch up,” said Jason tiredly, as he nudged Tommy and the two marshaled their strength to join the rest of the team.

-x-

“That shield rocks,” Ethan remarked.

“No doubt,” added Kira.

The three teenaged members team came down the stairs into the command center, while Jason and Dr. O followed. Upstairs, Kim had stated she needed to return an urgent call to her agent, and would be down as soon as she could.

“Thanks for trusting me with your powers guys,” commented Conner sincerely.

“It’s only a loan. Don’t forget that. And anything to help get our Zords back.”

“I just wish you could’ve felt what it was like. The power is amazing.”

“The Triassic Power was always meant for you Conner. All you had to do was trust in yourself. Then it was easy for others to trust in you too,” explained Tommy, still in his armor from the battle.

“See? All that jealously and look how great everything worked out,” pointed out Ethan.

“Everything okay down here?” asked a familiar voice as Hayley made an appearance, coming down the stairs to greet everyone.

As she moved towards the team, Jason watched her, and she felt like blushing.

“Glad to hear you guys saved the day again.”

“And I got this cool new shield,” gushed Conner, excited again.

“That’s great and all, but can I talk with Tommy alone for a bit?”

Jason looked at her, slightly concerned, but she waved him off. Nodding, he lead the others back upstairs, knowing that if Hayley wanted to talk with Tommy alone it had to be serious. Once they were gone, Hayley turned to Tommy, her hands wringing slightly before her.

“I’ve been doing some more research, and I think I might have a solution to your uniform problem.”

“And?” he replied, hopeful of some good news.

“It’s complicated. It has to do with your gem’s frequency and how it got jumbled up with the meteor and the morpher. I’m hoping that I can solve this with just your gem, but…”

Tommy stared at her, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“I might need to use one of the team’s gems to stabilize yours.”

“And what happens to their gem if it doesn’t work?”

“I actually don’t have a clue,” she answered, but the way her eyes glanced away gave Tommy the feeling that it probably wouldn’t be good.

“No. I’m not putting one of the others at risk even on the remote chance this could fix my problem. Find another way.”

“Alright. We can try without the other gem…”

“Okay. Let me know when you’re ready. In the meantime, I really want to get this armor off, so I need to go find Kim.”

With that he turned and left Hayley alone in the command center, where she frowned deeply. She’d been working on fixing Tommy’s armor problem for weeks now, and was no closer to solving it than she was before… at least without another external power source.

She’d try it his way, but if it didn’t work, maybe she’d have to ask Kimberly or Jason if they’d be willing to help Tommy again, even if he was dead set against it.


	16. Are you Happy Now?

With the latest monster defeated, the team did their usual post-bad guy debrief and cheer fest. Ethan and Conner talked with Jason about their continued proficiency with their ranger powers while Tommy and Hayley discussed more possible solutions to his uniform problem.

This left Kim an opportunity to mention to Kira something that she hoped would be good news for the aspiring singer.

“Kira, do you have a minute?” Kim asked as she moved to the elbow of the yellow ranger.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“My agent called me about a former client of mine… they’re looking for undiscovered local talent and James, my agent remembered me speaking about you, and well… I wanted to ask you before suggesting they contact you.”

Kira’s eyes widened.

“You… you’re asking me if it’s okay that you want to refer me to a record label?” Kira said in an astonished tone.

“It’s a record producer actually. I worked with them once, but they supposedly have a good track record with new stars. I didn’t want to do anything without asking you first.”

“No, I… that’s really great. Please… I’d love a chance to get my music heard.”

“Okay. I’ll call James back and let him know you’re interested.”

With that, Kim gave Kira a friendly pat on the shoulder and went to find Tommy, leaving Kira dazed and anxious at the prospect of really starting her music career… professionally.

-x-

Days later, Kira rushed to the Cyberspace, excited beyond anything. Coming out the front door, she ran into Trent, and couldn’t help but try and stop him to tell her news.

“Trent, you’re not gonna believe this. You’re gonna freak.”

“I’m already freaking. We’re out of soy milk and Hayley’s off today,” he replied in a frazzled fashion as he spun from Kira’s grasp. “I gotta hit the store.”

“Wait, I have to tell you something.”

“Sorry…”

With that he rushed off, leaving Kira standing there, feeling defeated. Still, there were a lot of other people to tell…

She just had to find them.

-x-

“All right, you ready Conner?” asked Hayley from the main console chair in the command center.

“Yep, ready,” said the Red Ranger as he looked at the Shield of Triumph laid on the table before him.

“Try the controls.”

“Okay.”

With that, Conner touched the two control globes with either hand as Hayley started the connection with the shield to her computer program.

“Initializing simulation,” she announced, as she started the program.

As soon as she did, feedback power ran through the shield, into the table’s controls and ran backwards into Conner, the power streaking red lighting through his body and making his hair stand on end.

“Hayley, can we stop, please?”

Hayley turned and gasped, seeing the results of the experiment and hurriedly turned the system off.

Once the system was off, the distinctive sound of the communicator came though the command center as one of the team tried to call in.

“Hey Conner, are you there? It’s Kira.”

“Hey Kira,” replied Hayley over the command center’s communication system. “He’s a little… fried right now. Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just wanted to tell him…”

“Can we call you back? We’re working on the control program for the new assault vehicle.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Kira responded without much enthusiasm. “What about Ethan? Is he around?”

“Can you tell her, unless she’s getting attacked by something green and scaly, send me an e-mail,” replied Ethan from his position in the back of the command center, eyes glued to his laptop.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah, I heard.”

“And Ethan’s right. Unless it’s an emergency, we should keep the communication frequency clear,” Hayley reminded.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll talk to you guys later.”

As Kira disconnected, Hayley turned to where Ethan was obviously up to something.

“What are you doing over there that’s so important anyway?”

“Searching the web for my soul mate.”

“Dude, if you needed help with girls, you just needed to ask,” commented Conner with a smug grin.

“Kira aside, I’m looking for something a little deeper that you’re used to bro,” Ethan fired back, and smothered a laugh at Conner’s finger-in-a-light-socket hairdo. “And by the way, nice look.”

“What? What’s he talking about?”

“You look fine,” Hayley said with some difficulty, and then quickly turned away from Conner. “Now let’s try that again?”

-x-

“So, you figure that Hayley’s feeling guilty about not coming up with a fix for your uniform problem yet that she told you to get out of the command center for the day?” Kim asked as she and Tommy drove to the beach, the jeep speeding along the ocean road as they contemplated a whole day without responsibilities.

“I wouldn’t put it past her. Of course, she might have just wanted the alone time with Jase…”

“That is if he was even around to spend time with. You know he had to run back to Angel Grove to see a customer about some cost over runs. You’re just being bad because he’s been teasing you about us.”

“He could get back early,” Tommy argued without a lot of passion.

“Sure…”

“Still, here we are, off to have a nice picnic and we’re talking about everyone else but us… not a good start.”

“I didn’t realize this was a no-friend zone,” Kim remarked with a slight frown.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that… just, well, ever since Jason got back, we haven’t really had as much time alone, so I was hoping that we could, I don’t know…”

“Focus on us some?”

“Exactly,” agreed Tommy. “So, how about we just concentrate on you, me and the very nice bottle of wine I picked out and not on work, rangers and everything else?”

“You got a deal handsome,” replied Kim as she reached in her purse and turned her cell phone off, allowing her to focus on the man she loved driving the jeep along the coast to their destination.

-x-

Having given up telling anyone about her meeting, Kira arrived at Tones records and walked into the loft-style offices of the record producer that Kim had given her name to and had invited her to come and meet with them.

But the place seemed empty.

“Hello? Anybody here? Hello?”

“You must be Kira. Welcome to my home. Walk with me,” said a slightly tanned man with sun streaked surfer and sunglasses.

“Wait. You live here?” Kira asked as she tried to keep up with the man in front of hers quick stride.

“My ideas do. This is my creative home. This is where I make my stars, Kira.” He moved her to one of the modern art chairs and nearly sat her down, circling her as he continued to talk. “Stars like you.”

“Great. So… what do I do?”

“Just follow my lead. If you can promise me your loyalty, your trust, I can promise you your dreams. Does that sound fair?”

“Yeah, I guess it does.”

“Great. Then let’s start,” he said with a sly grin and hurriedly moved from where he’d perched behind her chair to stand before her, picking her up by her hands and moving her with him. “On the way to wardrobe we can talk about Kira Ford. Who she’s gonna be, what she is going to represent. This is gonna be great. Come on.”

With that, Kira found herself following the producer into the unknown.

-x-

The following day, Kira made her way to the command center, and was both happy and fearful to find everyone there; Tommy and Hayley were working on something at the console while Jason and Kim were discussing something and Ethan and Conner were focused on their own tasks.

“Great, you’re all here,” she said as she came down the stairs.

“Kira, where have you been? Ethan asked, moving from his computer station.

“Yeah. I was worried. You should check in every once in a while,” Conner said with a light tone as he moved to kiss her lightly on her cheek, but eased back hesitantly as he felt the vibes radiating off her that told him she wasn’t in the mood.

“I tried… never mind. Look, I need your opinion on something and I need you all to be honest. Hayley, can you play this?”

“Sure,” Hayley replied, taking the CD case that Kira thrust at her and dropped it into the computer’s tray.

“Kira… is this what I think…” Kim began, before the sound of techno music stopped her in her tracks.

Everyone stared in rapt fascination as the punked out Kira Ford sang against a space backdrop with flying tea kettles and swirls. Kim sighed and looked at Tommy, shaking her head as she realized just what insanity the record producer she’d given Kira’s name to had created.

“All right, tell me the truth,” Kira said after the song was part way finished.

“Well… um…” Ethan stuttered.

“It’s…” Hayley began, and then stopped.

“What? Is someone gonna tell me what they really think?”

“I will,” Conner said, looking to Kira, his frown evident.

“Conner!” everyone started, hoping that they could keep the Red Ranger’s ever present capability to say the wrong thing in check.

“Look, Kira…” Kim began, and Kira cut her off.

“No, let him talk,” she said forcefully.

“I just think… it’s not you,” Conner said, and several people let out sighs of relief that the mostly tactless Conner had been tactful this time.

“I knew it. What was I thinking?” Kira moaned, as she shook her head in bewilderment.

Before anyone could offer up any comments, the alarm began to beep, alerting them to an impending attack.

“Never thought I’d be glad to hear that sound,” Ethan said under his breath, only to get a jab in the ribs from Jason.

“Either something escaped from the air show or we’re in trouble,” Conner remarked.

“Zeltrax,” Tommy observed, and watched as the vehicle split apart, one piece staying in the sky and the other landing on the ground, looking like a wheeled centipede. “Conner, you guys handle it. I’m gonna try to help Hayley get our new weapon powered up.”

“Okay. Ready?”

“Ready.”

“DinoThunder, power up! Ha!”

“White Ranger, power up!”

“Purple Ranger, power up!”

Once they were transformed into their uniforms, the five rangers hurried to call their zords and rushed into the battlefield, leaving Tommy and Hayley to hurriedly try and get their new weapon working.

-x-

After getting Conner the Triceramax Megazord, Tommy had left the rest of the team to try and stop Zeltrax. Once the main threat of the centipede machine had been defeted, Conner had made his way back to where Jason had been prepared to protect the powered down Kim, Kira and Ethan after transferring their powers to the Shield of Triumph.

As Conner raced to their sides, he watched as Kim stared silent into the sky, Jason’s eyes darting from her, back up again and then to him.

“Where’s Dr. Oliver?” Conner asked as he joined them.

Ethan and Kira looked at one another and frowned.

“You wanna tell him?” Ethan asked Kira.

Before she could, Conner thought to follow Kim and Jason’s gazed and focused in on Zeltrax’s ship.

“He’s still up there?” Conner questioned in a hushed voice.

“He’ll be back,” Jason replied confidently as he moved closer to Kim’s side.

Then there was a sudden explosion, and the ship carrying Zeltrax and Tommy began to burn from two different areas.

“Whoa!” Kira cried out.

Huh?” Ethan exclaimed.

The fires and explosions continued, and Kim gasped, her hands coming to her mouth as she watched in horror, waiting for the moment she knew was going to come when Tommy would leap from the flaming wreck to join them. Jason wrapped his arm around her shoulder in support as he counted the seconds before escape would be…

Before anyone knew what had happened, the ship blew up into hundreds of pieces, the flaming wreckage falling from the sky.

“No!” screamed Kira, Ethan and Conner as Kim began to go limp in Jason’s grasp.

“No, he can’t be gone,” Kira cried out.

“It’s all right everyone,” called out Tommy’s voice as he walked through the falling wreckage, his right hand holding his upper left arm. “I made it out.”

Everyone turned and before the teens could even move, Kim had broken away from Jason and caught Tommy around the waist hard, hugging him to her in relief. He released his arm and hugged her back.

“I’m okay Beautiful,” he whispered to her as the others converged on the couple.

“Dr. O.”

“You’re okay!”

“But what about Zeltrax?” questioned Ethan, remembering that there were two people on the ship.

“Zeltraz is gone,” Tommy said, looking to Jason and Kim, knowing that even through his visor, his words would ring with them.

“You did what you had to do bro,” Jason reminded his friend as he grasped Tommy’s hand, and the two shared a moment.

“Let’s get you home,” Kim finally said, moving her arm around Tommy’s waist and leading him to the command center, with the other rangers following behind.

-x-

“You’re not upset that I didn’t end up taking the record deal, are you?” Kira asked Kim as she picked up her guitar case in preparation for leaving the command center to join the others on the lot outside the city’s industrial area where they’d thrown together a set for another stab at Kira’s video.

“Of course not! You need to do what’s best for you. And based on that video… that certainly wasn’t it,” Kim replied as she helped pick up a set of amps that Kira had been using at the command center and they’d need at the old warehouse.

“Thanks. It means a lot to me that you wanted to help…”

“And if I can in the future I will. But I think that you need to make your own way for now. And don’t let anyone change who you are.”

Kira nodded and turned to where Conner was waiting. Everyone had pulled some strings and gotten Kira the video shoot that she really deserved. Now… she was off to start her career.

The way she wanted to.


	17. If You Could Only See

“So Cass, are we…” Ethan began as he ran into Cassidy near the school bus, dropping off students for their day of academia.

“Hey Cass, can I ask you,” Devin started as he rushed up to the pair and then realized that he was butting into a conversation that he wasn’t invited to. “Uh, I’ll be over here.”

As Devin wandered off, they were finally alone again, in as much as there wasn’t anyone interested in them. As Ethan and Cassidy started towards the front of the school, Ethan tried his question again.

“Uh, are we still on for the picnic?”

“Oh yeah, totally,” she replied, wringing her hands together in nervous excitement. “I thought we could start with a cheese appetizer and for the main course, trout almondine.”

“Uh no. Let me handle everything. You’re my guest, I don’t want you to lift a finger.”

“Oh you’re so sweet. And who says chivalry is dead.”

With that, Cassidy bounced off, leaving Ethan behind, and felling none too confident about his decision. Before he knew it, Conner was beside him, his hand falling on the Blue Ranger’s shoulder in support and sympathy.

“What was I thinking?” Ethan said with a helpless tone.

“First date jitters?” Conner asked.

“I wouldn’t know. This is my first date ever.”

“No way?”

“I think it’s sweet,” offered Kira.

“A 20 gig hard drive with a 12 meg portable back up is sweet. This is pure torture.”

“Dude, don’t sweat it. We’ll put you through dating boot camp. When you’re finished you’ll be Cassidy and ‘Casanova’,” insisted Conner, swinging his arm around the African American’s shoulder. “The power couple of Reefside. Right?”

“Absolutely,” agreed Kira, hoping that Conner didn’t give Ethan any of the bad dating tips that she was so desperately trying to break him of.

Nodding, Ethan let Conner steer him to the building as the bell began to ring.

-x-

Later that afternoon, Hayley had finished her analysis of the slime that Tommy had collected from the pool Elsa had led them to. With the encouraging results, she suggested that they try fixing his morphing problem.

“Well, I guess slime really does pay,” he said with a lighthearted tone.

“This is crazy, but it might just work,” Hayley replied, knowing that anything other than using another dino gem was something Tommy was willing to try. “So, I’ll call everyone and…”

“Not Kim,” Tommy replied, and received a puzzled look from the red headed scientist. “Just in case this doesn’t work, I don’t want to get her hopes up.”

“What about Jason and the others? If she goes looking for any of them, she’s bound to find out about this.”

“She’s in L.A. today meeting with a record producer. She’s not supposed to be back until this evening, unless there’s an ‘emergency’.”

Shrugging, Hayley called everyone separately, requesting they come back to the cave.

The teens arrived together, the three of them coming through the back entrance of the cave in a rush.

“What’s the emergency?” asked Ethan as the three of them skidded to a halt in the middle of the floor.

“That’s a good question. What’s up bro?” questioned Jason as he came in from upstairs and joined the others as they stared at Tommy and Hayley.

“Hey guys,” Tommy said in greeting to everyone. “Hayley thinks she can fix my morphing problem.”

There were lots of gasps and words of congratulations, but then the one question was raised that Hayley was worried about answering.

“How?”

“With the help of this slime we found. I think it might work as a synthesizing agent that I think will bring Tommy back to his normal self.”

With that, everyone huddled around, waiting as Hayley began making her preparations, and Jason moved to intercept Tommy. He’d noticed the one missing ranger and had a bad feeling his friend was shielding the love of his life from disappointment.

“So, Kim…” he said simply, trailing off as Tommy moved away from him, trying to avoid the conversation. “Tommy.”

“Okay, I asked Hayley not to call her. She’s in L.A. and I figured when she got back tonight that either I’d be back to normal or still having problems with being stuck in the suit. She doesn’t need to be here for the technical stuff.”

“And if something else happens? You know she’ll kill you and me for not telling her.”

“Nothing will happen. Hayley’s got this covered,” Tommy insisted as he moved to the holding chamber that Hayley was beckoning him to as she held the container of slime gingerly in one hand.

Jason sighed. He had a bad feeling that his friend was being way to trusting. Still, Hayley was as brilliant as she was beautiful. She could have the answer…

“Okay, I’ve input your molecular structure and DNA information. Now, to add the slime. I hope this works.”

“You’re not the only one,” Tommy said as he stood in the clear cylindrical chamber as Hayley walked closer with the slime Elsa had lead them to.

“Good luck Dr. O.”

“Catch you on the flip side.”

Jason groaned. Kim was a bad influence on the Black Ranger, no doubt about it.

Sliding the container with the slime into a synthesizing machine, Hayley flipped the switch, setting the machine to a humming, whirling sound. “System activated.”

With that, Hayley went to join the others, moving to Jason’s side as he laid an arm across her shoulder in support. Meanwhile, the center chamber where the slime was agitating under the power coursing around it from the machine began to glow as the liquid pumped through a single tube leading to the chamber Tommy now stood.

“Here we go,” Hayley said as the liquid began to fall from the top of the containment unit.

“Huh? No way,” Ethan called out as they watched Dr. O get bathed in the green liquid like a bad episode of ‘Double Dare’.

Then, as the majority of the liquid had covered Tommy, there was a flash, and then he was gone.

“No!” Hayley cried out, stunned at the serious error in her plans.

“What’s going on?” Conner asked worriedly.

“He’s gone,” Kira said, watching the place where Dr. O had just stood, now empty. Then Kira noticed something, “look, the towel!”

Everyone looked to where the lab towel was seemingly moving on its own, wiping at some green slime that looked to be hovering in mid air.

“Dr. Oliver, are you there?” Conner questioned.

“Yeah. I’m here. Hayley, any guesses as to what’s going on?” said the disembodied voice of their friend and teacher.

“Looks like the slime made your dino power of invisibility kick into overdrive.”

“Great,” Tommy complained as he continued to wipe off the slime.

“Did it fix the morphing problem?” asked Jason, focusing on the original problem, and everyone looked to where Tommy’s towel was moving.

“I think so. I can check…”

With that, Tommy morphed, and then unmorphed, unseen by everyone.

“Yeah. But now no one can see me.”

“Invisible science teacher. That is so totally graphic novel,” commented Ethan humorously.

“Glad you find it funny Ethan,” Tommy complained.

“Is there anything you can do?” Kira asked, worried about how this was going to impact the team, and Dr. O’s situation with Kimberly.

“This is a tough one. I have no idea how to counter act that agent.”

“Don’t worry Tommy, I’m sure Hayley will figure something out,” insisted Jason.

“Uh guys, over here,” Tommy directed, as he’d moved to the other side of the room as everyone had been talking. “There’s nothing you can do right now. Hayley and I will work on it.”

“I guess now would be a good time to give Ethan his makeover,” suggested Conner, as the ranger in question looked over at him with a worried glance.

“Uh, but…”

With that, Kira gave Ethan a push and they walked past the invisible Dr. O, leaving Jason and Hayley behind. Jason sighed and found one of the rolling lab chairs and sat down, his hand racking his hair at his temple.

“How many times do we have to go through this before we learn? Do not assume that everything will be okay when dealing with alien technology. What is Kim going to say about this?” Jason pointed out.

Tommy sighed and pulled up another chair, sitting in it, but nothing appearing there.

“Well, I guess I’m gonna find out.”

-x-

“Tommy?” Kim called out as she opened the front door to the house, her arms loaded down with two sacks of groceries she’d stopped off to get on her way back from her out of town meeting.

Walking to the kitchen, she started to put things away, before noting that the door to the cave was closed. If he was downstairs, usually he’d keep it open so she could join him, or call down to him to let him know she was there. If he wasn’t answering her upstairs and the downstairs was closed…

Turning, she reached for the milk and found it gone. Swiveling her head towards the refrigerator, she found it already in place. Shrugging at her lapse in memory, she moved back to the bags of food and was surprised again to find things she had just seen gone.

“What the hell?” she said under her breath.

Then she felt something pinch her ass, and she whirled around, looking around to see absolutely nothing.

“You look like you lost something,” said Tommy, except he wasn’t there to be saying anything.

Kim stared ahead, her eyes wide as she looked for the owner of the disembodied voice before her.

“Kim… I need you to not faint on me… but I’m right here.”

“Are you being funny, using your invisibility powers to spook me?” she asked, a hand falling to land on her hip in a pose of disbelief.

“Actually, no. Hayley thought she had a fix for my uniform problem. Instead of breaking the armor’s affixation to me when I use my morpher, she… well she broke my power.”

“What?”

“I mean I’m stuck. I can’t turn visible again.”

“Oh God,” Kim sighed, sitting heavily in one of the chairs in the kitchen. “Wait, do you think we could try what was working before?”

With that she reached out, groping for Tommy and finally his hand met hers. Clutching it tightly, Tommy willed himself to visibility, like he’d realized he could do with changing from his uniform. Only this time, nothing happened. He still couldn’t see his hands, his feet… anything.

“It’s not working.”

“The slime wasn’t like what happened before. Hayley said she thinks it kicked my power into overdrive, so I can’t become visible.”

"So, how do we get you visible again?” Kim asked, worried now that things had gone from bad to worse.

“She’s not sure. The slime that we located and tried to use is something totally alien, and she’s not sure how to counteract it. But there is good news,” he offered, seeing the concern in her eyes, and wanting to diminish it as best he could.

“Great. I could use some of that about now.”

“My uniform problem is fixed.”

“You mean you can unmorph now?”

“Yup. Tried it after I went invisible. So, one problem solved…”

“And another replaces it.”

“Yeah. You know how it is with rangers… never a dull moment.”

“So, what are you going to do about school? You can’t teach like this,” Kim remarked.

“It’s a weekend, so we have two days to figure this out. And if on Sunday we haven’t made me visible again, I’ll call in sick or something.”

“I guess that means that we’re staying in this weekend.”

Tommy watched Kim as she said that last sentence, and saw the slight flush to her cheeks and the glow in her eyes. This whole having to stay in for the weekend because he was invisible was starting to have its upside.

It had such possibilities…

“We are. Hope you brought home enough groceries.”

His evil grin brought out another on her as they worked to get said groceries put away so they could focus on other matters.

-x-

Kira had forced Ethan to bring his entire wardrobe with him to the Cyberspace. As he tried on different combinations, looking for the perfect outfit, Kira kept laying out new arrangements, trying to show off different sides of him.

For a while, Conner found it all entertaining, but after a while, he was getting bored.

“Let’s move on,” he finally said. “Dancing?”

At the word dancing, Kira groaned. Conner liked to think he was all that, and he could sort of dance. But…

Before she knew it, Conner was teaching Ethan the tango. Red rose between his teeth, Ethan was doing his best not to tell the Red Ranger he was out of his mind. Finally, as they tangoed back towards one of the couches at the empty Cyberspace, Ethan dipped Conner, releasing his hold and sending his dancing partner to bounce off the couch, as he did a faux ‘ole’ move in completion of his dance.

“So, what about dining etiquette?” Ethan asked as he flopped down on the couch besides Conner.

“Don’t ask me. Kira says I’m a slob.”

“You just don’t eat everything with a fork,” Kira complained. “And I’m not all that knowledgeable either… what about Jason?”

“You think he’d be willing to give me some pointers?”

“Can’t hurt to ask,” Conner said, whipping out his cell phone. After a few minutes of conversation, he hung up with a sly grin on his face. “He’ll be here shortly.”

What couldn’t have been more than ten minutes later, the White Ranger knocked at the front door, and Kira raced to let him in.

“So, I guess it’s time for the adults, huh?” asked Jason as he moved to where Ethan and Conner were sprawled on the couch. “Come on Ethan. Time for romance 101.”

With that, he tossed a backpack to the floor and began to pull out a tablecloth and candles. As Ethan, Conner and Kira watched, they all got the feeling that Ethan was going to really be in over his head now.

-x-

“Not that this hasn’t been fun and all, but you really need to be visible,” Kim complained the following evening as she, Tommy, Hayley and Jason had dinner.

She had been watching Tommy’s knife and fork floating up and down as food moved from his plate to his mouth and then disappeared. And the fact that she couldn’t see him doing it was just wigging her out.

After everything they’d been through in the last twenty four hours, Kim’s patience had worn thin and this was the last straw. Between the stupid monster attack and more tests by Hayley to find a solution to his invisibility problem, Kim and Tommy had been stretched to their limits. Even their ‘experimenting’ with the possibilities of an invisible boyfriend hadn’t been enough to make her feel as if she and Tommy weren’t reaping the penalty for having had things so good up until now.

As it was, even Ethan’s love life seemed to be going better than hers. Tommy’s aid in giving the Blue Ranger some invisible pointers with Cassidy had gone a long way to bolstering the young woman’s opinion of the mostly geeky ranger.

So this impromptu dinner had been more about Kim wanting some kind of normalcy, and it was turning out to be the exact opposite.

“Yeah bro, talking to thin air is gonna make people think I’m crazy,” added Jason, causing Kim to roll her eyes.

“Hayley, any new ideas?” asked Tommy’s disembodied voice.

“Well…” Hayley began, running her hands over the silverware before her before she looked up to stare at the three of them in turn. “There’s always my first plan…”

Even invisible, Kim and Jason would have sworn they saw Tommy’s look of rejection at that suggested path.

“No! I told you we were not using any one else’s gems.”

“But Tommy, with you stuck like you are, I need at least one other gem’s power to try and return yours to its normal state, and get you back to being visible,” complained Hayley, knowing that her options were running out fast.

“And what happens if it screws up again?”

There was silence, and it was Jason that broke it.

“Look Tommy, Kim and I came here to help you all those months ago, and nothing has changed. You know I’d do anything I could to help you, and Kim… well, I think that you know how far she’d go… You need to let us help you, because right now, you’re not any good to the team like this.”

“I… I know. You’re right. I just… I’m worried. Especially after this snafu, that something really bad could happen.”

“Come on, after everything the three of us have gone through… I doubt there’s anything that could happen to us that we haven’t been through before.”

“Tommy, please, you need to let us do this,” Kim said in a pleading tone, reaching for where she heard his voice, and taking a few tries before catching his hand. That simple act, of Kim not being able to touch him made him relent.

“Okay Hayley, what do you need?” Tommy said, resigned to this course of action now.

“I need Jason and Kim’s gems, calibrate the synthesizer mechanism again and Tommy needs to get hooked up to the command center’s sensors so I can monitor how the gem’s powers are affecting him.”

“So, we’re doing this now?” Kim asked, ready to get up from the table right this second.

“Tomorrow. I have to triple check all my calculations and systems before we do this,” Hayley insisted.

“Alright. Well, let’s finish dinner so I can escort you home to get a good night’s sleep so you can start first thing in the morning,” Jason suggested, reaching over to lay his hand over hers.

She gave Jason a small smile, hoping that she was up to the task before her, and that Jason and Kim’s faith in her getting Tommy back to normal wasn’t misplaced.


	18. The Fightin' Side of Me

After arriving early that morning, Hayley had checked, double checked and triple checked her theory that Kim and Jason’s gems could stabilize and fix Tommy’s by joining them together, Kim and Jason’s gems providing the power and template to realign Tommy’s malfunctioning powers.

Finally, she turned from where she’d been sitting at the main console and focused her attention on Tommy, Kim and her boyfriend Jason. While she felt this was their best shot, there was still an element of risk.

“Are you sure you want to do this? It’s still dangerous…”

“We’ve decided,” Tommy stated, looking to Kim and Jason even though they couldn’t tell that. “Let’s do this.”

With that, Hayley moved towards the metal table set up in the command center, and waited until she heard the slight creak of the metal, indicating Tommy was on it.

“Okay Hayley, I’m ready.”

With a swish of her hands, she covered the lower half of his body with a silver metallic blanket, allowing her to locate him. Then she moved to attach the electrodes so she could monitor the process and its effects on him.

“For the record, I still think this is…” she began before Jason and Kim’s dual stares cut her off.

“What about us?” Kim asked as she leaned on the table, watching Hayley’s every move.

“You and Jason can stay there… I just need your gems to power the re-molecularizer.”

With that, Kim and Jason twisted their wrists to expose their gauntlets. Carefully they removed the stones, leaving the silver metal bracelets bare. As one, they handed Hayley the stones, and went back to their places beside Tommy’s invisible body.

“Good to go,” stated Tommy.

“See you soon bro, literally, we hope,” Jason said with a joking tone, and Kim forced a smile as Tommy laughed, making the blanket bounce.

“Okay…” Hayley announced as she slid all three gems into a cylinder and then moved to the control panel. “Initiating sequence.”

As the power flowed through Tommy’s gem, and though his body as well, Kim and Jason stood rigid, fear and anticipation etching their faces. Then, before anyone knew it, Tommy was hyperventilating and then there was a spark…

“It’s overloading,” Hayley cried out as she moved to the de-molecularizer, hoping to turn it off before any more damage could be done.

“He’s convulsing!” yelled Jason as the invisible body covered with the metallic sheet writhed beneath his and Kim’s hands.

“Hayley, stop it!” screamed Kim, her hands pressing down on the form of the man she loved.

“I can’t!” she called out, just as a jolt of multi-color lightning crackled along Tommy’s invisible body and into Jason and Kimberly.

There was a bright flash, and Hayley shielded her eyes. As it vanished, she looked into the cylinder that contained the three dino gems, finding Tommy’s broken into three pieces and Kim and Jason’s looking nearly melted. Suddenly she heard several loud thumps and moved her head towards Tommy, finding him visible again on the table. But where Kim and Jason should have been… rushing past him, she found Kim and Jason unconscious, sprawled on the floor.

“Oh God,” Hayley whispered under her breath, as she swiftly moved to check them all, hoping beyond hope that she hadn’t killed the greatest ranger ever, his girlfriend and her new boyfriend. Hurriedly she moved to the command console and opened up the emergency communications wavelink to the ranger’s morphers. “Conner! I need you, Kira and Ethan at the cave now! We’ve got a big problem.”

-x-

“What’s wrong with them doctor?” Hayley asked as the physician moved from Tommy to Jason in the two person room. Kim was in the next room over being looked over by a separate physician, but both of them were coming to the same conclusion.

“We have no idea. Their vitals are stable, but all three of them have wildly erratic brain patterns. Are you sure there’s nothing more you can tell us?”

“There’s nothing more that we know.”

“Can you get them out of it?” questioned Kira, as she, Conner and Ethan stood beside Dr. O’s bed.

“We’re trying, but none of them are responding to anything.”

“They’re going to be okay, right?” inquired Ethan, now more worried than ever.

“I’m not going to lie to you. The longer they stay like this, the more at risk they are.”

“Thanks Dr. Walsh,” said Kira, leaning against Conner’s shoulder as his arm looped around her, holding her tightly to him.

“Your friends are going to get the best care possible.”

With that, Dr. Walsh left the room, leaving them alone. Suddenly the television outside the room at the nurse’s station broke into programming to make an urgent announcement about the city under attack. Kira, Ethan and Conner looked to one another with concerned faces. Glancing at Hayley, she nodded in understanding.

“I’ll stay with them.”

“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” said Conner before the three of them raced for the door.

-x-

Awaking on a barren desert landscape, Tommy shoved himself up with an arm as he noticed that he could see himself. Whatever Hayley had done, he was visible again.

Unfortunately he didn’t have a clue as to where he was.

Looking around him, he saw Kim laid out on one side of him, and Jason on the other. Both looked like they were out of it, and he moved to Kim’s side to check if she was… he squashed any thought that she wasn’t just unconscious and laid a hand to her shoulder, shaking her.

“Kim, Beautiful, wake up.”

Her eyes flickered and then opened to light on his visible face, and she smiled.

“Hey Handsome.”

Smiling back at her, he eased her to a sitting position as he moved back to where Jason lay and shook his friend until the White Ranger awoke.

“Good to see you bro,” Jason said with more than a trace of humor before he sat up and realized that they weren’t in the command center any longer. “Uh, is it just me, or are we all seeing desert.”

“Nope, not just you,” Kim interjected.

“Where are we?”

“I don’t have a clue,” Tommy growled, and Kim looked at him as she reached towards him and he pulled away from her, angrily getting up and pacing the dusty ground. “Neither of you would be here, wherever here is if you’d stayed out of this. I told you this was too dangerous.”

“And we said we didn’t care!” Kim yelled back, shoving herself up from the ground to catch Tommy’s arm in hers and swing him towards her. “We did what we had to do to get you back. That’s all that matters. We’re in this together and we’ll figure out where we are and how to get back.”

“She’s right bro,” Jason added, moving to stand behind Kim. “You would have done the same for either of us.”

Tommy bowed his head, knowing Jason was right.

“What’s that?” Kim asked suddenly, pointing to an archway shape at the crest of the sand dune behind Tommy.

As Jason and Tommy looked, and suddenly there was a shape that was familiar to both of them stepping through the archway, and both men fought not to let their mouths fall open in shock.

“Hello Tommy, remember me?”

“Tommy… is that Zeo 5?” Jason asked, his voice wavering at the sight before them.

“Yeah it is…”

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me already,” said the red ranger as he walked down the dunes towards the three of them.

“But, that’s impossible! He’s you,” Kim said in a whisper that seemed to carry on the wind.

“Oh, it’s possible,” answered Zeo 5. ”And I’m still as tough as ever. The question is, are you?”

“What is this? I’m not going to fight you.”

“Then I suppose then you’ll be destroyed. Hi-yah!”

With that, the red Zeo ranger took a battle stance and launched an attack. Firing off with a high kick, Tommy quickly ducked, while reaching for his gauntlet, only to remember that it had been removed to fix his powers. When Jason and Kim jumped in to help, he realized that none of them had their powers at their disposal.

Then he got another shock, as the Zeo ranger went right through Jason and Kim’s blocking maneuvers.

“It isn’t solid!’ cried Kim, as her fist went right through the space that the red ranger’s shoulder should have been.

“It sure feels solid to me,” Tommy complained as Zeo 5 punched him, sending him flying.

“Well, whatever it is, we can’t land a hand on him,” Jason admitted as he tried a roundhouse kick that nearly sent him sprawling when he simply hit air.

“I guess it’s up to me then.”

With that, Tommy charged Zeo 5, sending him flying.

-x-

“I see you’ve got a lot of fight left in you. But is it enough?” Zeo 5 finally admitted as both he and Tommy panted after fighting what seemed to Kim and Jason a good twenty minutes to a draw. Then he raised his arm and teleported away, leaving the three of them alone.

“Wait! What are you talking about?” Tommy yelled as the red ranger form of himself disappeared.

“You okay bro?” Jason asked, as he moved to his best friend’s side.

“Yeah. That was just weird. And what was all that about me having any fight left?”

Kim stood there and looked at Tommy intently, and then rubbed her wrist, bringing her attention to her now gem-less gauntlet. Zeo 5 hadn’t even acknowledged either of them, and they couldn’t land a single blow on him to guard Tommy. It was as if they weren’t even there…

“Hey, I think I have an idea… Hayley was using our gems to jumpstart yours, using their power to help fix your powers. Maybe this whole thing is about you - by fighting, you’re restoring your own powers,” suggested Kim. “And the reason we can’t hit things is because we’re just here to keep you going.”

“So, I have to defeat whatever we encounter to get my dino powers back in line?” Tommy questioned, looking at Kim bewildered.

“I think so.”

“And you guys can’t help.”

“Doesn’t look like it,” Jason admitted, following where Kim was coming from on this theory.

“Lot of good you two are then,” quipped Tommy.

“Uh, anyone notice things have changed?”

At Jason’s words, Kim and Tommy looked around to see the scenery changed, forest replacing desert and laughter echoing through the mists.

“Tommy, Tommy…”

“Something tells me we’re not in Reefside anymore,” Tommy whispered.

“We’re in Angel Grove,” said the voice, and then suddenly the White Ranger swooped from the trees, his gold tiger markings on his helmet and chest plate making it obvious who he was. “Finally cut that hair, huh?”

“White Ranger,” Tommy said stunned while Kim stood open mouthed at the appearance of the man who had been in all intents her white knight.

“I guess we know who you’re up against next bro,” Jason said, as he grabbed Kim by the arm and moved her back.

-x-

“Okay, this is weird, even by ranger standards,” Tommy commented after the White Ranger had left and the scenery started to change again.

“This seems familiar,” Jason commented as he walked forward, Kim moving to Tommy’s side and grasping his hand tightly.

Looking down, he smiled tightly but squeezed her hand back. He knew that as long as Jase and Kim were with him, he could get through anything.

“Three guesses as to who’s up next, and the first two don’t count,” Jason remarked as he passed a piece of ruined archway.

As the words left his mouth, a streak of light crossed in front of them, and materialized at the tree beside Tommy. When the light died down, Tommy saw the Dragon Dagger sticking in the bark. Kim bit her lip and let go of Tommy’s hand.

“Be careful,” she said quietly as he reached over and yanked the weapon from the tree.

“I thought I might run into you,” Tommy spoke as the Green Ranger appeared from the greenery all around them.

“It’s been a while Tommy. I see you switched to basic black,” commented the Green Ranger.

“Seems to work for me. Let me guess, you want to fight?”

“You guessed right.”

With that, the Green Ranger attacked, and Kim and Jason could only watch as Tommy fought himself again. But this time, they knew that there was more at stake then ever before…

-x-

Tommy’s eyes began to flutter open. When he opened them, he found Hayley looking down at him, a smile plastered on her face. Of course though, his thoughts turned to someone else.

“Tommy! You’re okay,” said Hayley excitedly.

“Yeah. Never felt better. Where’s Kim?”

“She’s in another room,” answered Hayley quickly.

“What about Jason?”

“He’s in the bed next to you. And if you’re awake, then both of them should be too,” said Hayley as she watched Tommy look down to his closed fist.

“Where’s the team?” he asked suddenly, the ranger and leader taking over.

“In the field…”

“Then we need to get going too…”

“You all just woke up from a coma… and your gem…”

“Is fixed,” Tommy said, showing the solid black gem in his hand, along with Kim and Jason’s gems.

“How did their gems…” Hayley started to ask, stunned.

“Later,” Tommy said, throwing aside the bedclothes before moving to Jason’s bed. “Yo, bro, wakey, wakey. Bad guys need to get bashed.”

“Whoa, weird dream…” Jason began mumbling as he awoke, and then as he fully took in Tommy handing him his white gemstone, he immediately sobered. “No dream I guess.”

Without another word, Jason threw back the covers and followed Tommy as he moved to the next door, pushing it open to find caramel hair covering the white hospital pillow. Memories of seeing her in a hospital bed after that near fatal fall all those years ago back in Angel Grove bubbled up, and he strode to her side.

“You okay Beautiful?” he asked as he stood at her bedside, watching her doe colored eyes open and light on his face.

“Yeah, I’m good to go. Hand me my gem,” she answered, reaching up for the amethyst gem in Tommy’s hand.

“Time to go to work,” Tommy announced, and the three of them scrambled to get their clothes before racing out to help the rest of the team.

-x-

Conner, Kira and Ethan were thrown by the monster’s attack, the flames scorching their faces as they landed hard on the ground. They desperately needed something to break their way, or Mesogog was going to win this time.

“It’s over,” announced the White Terrorsaurus as it gloated over the prone forms of the rangers.

Then from out of nowhere, Tommy leapt out, striking the White Terrorsaurus in the head and sending him flying before landing on the ground before the teens. Behind him, Kimberly and Jason appeared as well, creating a new line of defense.

“Dr. O, Kim, Jason!” Conner yelled enthusiastically, realizing that things were looking up.

“You’re alive!” cried Kira as she and the others got up.

“Not for long,” complained the White Terrorsaurus.

Tommy looked at the White Terrorsaurus with a dark look, then glanced at Kim and Jason, who nodded.

“Dino Thunder, Power up!”

“Purple Ranger, power up!”

“White Ranger, power up!”

In seconds, the three living legends of the power rangers were transformed into their armor, prepared for battle.

“That thing is so going to get its ass kicked,” Ethan said under his breath, as Kim, Jason and Tommy attacked.

-x-

“Okay, so let me get this straight, three of your old ranger powers came after you…” began Ethan before Conner cut him off.

“And you had to fight them to get your life back?”

“This is awesome,” Ethan interjected again. “It’s like all the power rangers lined up…”

“It’s so scary, and Jason and Kim were with you but they couldn’t help,” added Kira, as all three of them started talking over one another.

“Guys…” Tommy began, cutting them all off. “I just wanted to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. For hanging in with me through all of this. It was tough, but you guys came through. It means a lot to me.”

“To all of us,” Kim added, laying a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, prompting the Black Ranger to cover it with his own.

“He’s right, you should really be proud of yourselves,” Hayley stated, as Jason smiled at her.

“Yeah, you were real rangers today – real heroes,” Jason commended.

Standing there, Ethan slowly turned to look at Conner, who seemed to be shielding his eyes from everyone.

“Are you crying?”

“No! We’re just really glad you’re back Dr. O.”

With that, Tommy turned to Kim and smiled.

“Me too.”


	19. Beautiful Mess

“So, what’s this flyer all about?” asked Conner as he and Ethan walked down the corridor on their way to English class.

Ethan looked up to see the color flyer of a tree posted along the wall, another tacked on a bulletin board less than twenty feet away.

“No idea bro. Looks like some tree hugging or something. You know, if it doesn’t have wires or keyboards, I’m usually clueless.”

“It just seems there are a lot of them all over the place. I saw some in the science building.”

“Well, it looks like the perpetrator of the signs is right up there. You can ask her yourself,” Ethan remarked dismissingly.

“Krista, right?” Conner asked, remembering the girl from junior high.

“Yep, that’s me,” she said in a distracted tone as she finished tacking up another flyer and turned to leave.

“Hey, wait, I wanted to ask you about your poster. So, there’s…” Conner started as he finally got a good look at the poster as she handed one to him, “a tree that needs saving?”

“Yeah, behind the school. It’s over one hundred years old, and Randal wants to tear it out to put in a new parking lot.

“That’s seems like such an injustice,” remarked Conner, somewhat sarcastically, but Krista didn’t seem to notice.

“It’s a crime against nature,” she said passionately, “that tree has been part of the eco system longer than any of us have even been here. Dozens of creatures depend on it.”

Conner looked at her and suddenly recognized something – that the passion she had to save that tree was so like Kira’s for her music, or his own for soccer. Maybe he could help…

“Where do I sign up?”

“Really? You want to help?” Krista asked, almost suspiciously.

“Yeah. Just tell me what to do.”

“Okay… how about you come to the rally. The information’s all there. And anyone you can bring would be great.”

“Cool.”

With that, Conner headed off to join Ethan, who was already down the hall and rolling his eyes at his friend, who sometimes seemed to get them all roped into more stuff than anyone else he knew.

Down the hall, Krista watched as Conner met up with his techie friend and clutched her stack of flyers. She would never have pegged Conner McKnight as an environmental supporter. So his offer to help had surprised her.

“So, McKnight offered to help?” said a voice behind her, and she turned to see Trent Hernandez from the Cybercafe leaning against the lockers.

“He did. It was very nice.”

“And the fact that a handsome jock was paying attention to you was all beside the point, right?” Trent asked frankly.

The fact of the matter was that he’d seen Krista at the café. And more than once he’d seen her attention focused on Conner. Which, if he was right, meant that she was interested in the jock in more than an activist kind of way.

And that was fine by him, since he had an interest in seeing Conner dating someone other than Kira…

He looked at Krista and she blushed slightly and he knew he’d been right.

“Well, he’s handsome and funny… but I heard he’s dating some musician…” she demurred, her eyes darting away from Trent and down the hall.

“What would you say if I told you that he wasn’t?”

Krista’s eyes flew back to the young man next to her and Trent smiled a bit too brightly as he thought exactly how she could help him break up Conner and Kira. He knew that the dumb jock didn’t deserve Kira, and maybe some attention from Krista could drive a wedge between the two of them, leaving him the chance to sweep in and convince Kira she’d been wrong about Conner.

And give him a chance to show her that he was what she needed.

-x-

“So, you want to come?” Conner asked Kira as they left Geometry and headed for the parking lot.

“You mean for that rally thing?” Kira questioned, surprised at her boyfriend’s sudden interest in the environment. “No thanks. I have a gig at the café, remember?”

“Crap! I forgot. Look, you’re going to be there for an hour, right? I sort of promised I’d show up and help, so I’ll meet you there before your set is up, okay?”

“It’s no big.”

“Yeah, it is. I haven’t missed any of your shows before now, and I don’t plan to start. It just sounded like Krista could use all the help she can get, and well… I know how that feels.”

Kira smiled at Conner tenderly. Who would have ever suspected that the self absorbed jock that she’d know at the beginning of the term could have been so thoroughly changed? She liked to think that she had something to do with it, which she knew she did, but more than that had been their becoming rangers. The months since he’d become the Red ranger had matured him to a level that while wasn’t quite all that mature; he was miles from where he’d been before.

“That’s sweet. You go and chant and all that, and I’ll see you at the café,” she said, leaning in for a quick kiss that made both of them smile like fools.

-x-

That evening, Tommy had finally emerged from the bedroom that doubled as his study, a huge stack of graded papers in hand. It had taken him the last three hours, but he’d finished them for tomorrow. After stuffing them away in his briefcase, he headed to the kitchen to find Kim humming softly as she made dinner.

He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as he watched her, back to him as she moved from the refrigerator, back to the stove and then to the counter. In the months since they’d picked up their relationship again, he’d never have imagined the thrill just watching her cooking in his… their kitchen would give him.

“All done Beautiful,” he said finally, coming in to sit at the table and watch her in action.

“Good timing. Dinner will be ready in a half hour. So, anything news?” she questioned, happily making small talk with the man she loved.

“No, not really…”

“I heard that Principal Randall wants to put in a new parking lot,” Kim commented as she cut up the chicken for their meal.

“Where did you hear that?”

“Ethan mentioned it when he came by earlier and went downstairs to get some game he forgot in the command center last week. He mentioned he and Conner went out there to ‘show support’.” And that you came out to try and keep things from getting to out of hand before you came home.”

“Ah, well… it’s a touchy subject. Some of the kids are protesting, saying that the tree where the new lot would be should be preserved, while some of the kids and teachers are really looking forward to some extra spaces. It would certainly mean you could come by at lunch and find a place to park,” Tommy remarked as he moved behind Kim and leaned his weight on the edge of the kitchen table, crossing his arms in front of him to keep from wrapping them around Kim’s waist.

“You just want an excuse for me to come to school and make out with you during your lunch hour,” she accused as she moved the chicken to the baking sheet.

“True. But there are a lot more kids with cars then there were in our day. It begs the question if one tree is worth all the trouble?”

“I don’t know.”

“Neither do I. All I do know is that everyone has an opinion, and sometimes when you think you’re right, you do things that are stupid and dangerous. I hope no one goes over the line.”

Kim nodded and finished preparing their dinner and carefully slid it into the oven. Closing the door, she turned around to regard her boyfriend before her, and smiled.

“So, dinner will be ready in twenty minutes. Wanna watch the news?” she asked with a glint in her eye that said television was the furthest thing from her mind.

“Twenty minutes?” Tommy repeated as he reached forward and captured Kim’s waist in his hands, pulling her flush with his body. “I can think of something more interesting to do in twenty minutes.”

Just as Tommy leaned in to kiss Kim into mindless oblivion, there was a pounding on the front door. Pulling back with a sigh, Tommy released Kim and moved to see what was up. Opening the door, he found Kira, Conner and Ethan there, slightly out of breath and with looks of concern on their faces.

“Guys?”

“We’ve got problems,” Conner said flatly, as he waited for Dr. O to invite them in.

In the kitchen, Kim had turned off the oven, thrown open the basement door and was hurrying down, knowing that the others would be behind her momentarily. Once she was in the command center, she raced to the console and opened the communications channel to let Jason know something was up. Then she turned to find the rest of the team and Tommy was sitting down already, looking slightly pale.

“Zeltrax is back? How is that even possible?” Conner commented, looking at the Black Ranger as he remembered the fiery destruction just weeks ago of Zeltrax’s ship and Dr. O’s razor fine escape.

“And why does he want a tree?” questioned Kira.

“I think I can answer both those questions,” announced Hayley as she and Jason came into the command center from the cave door. “The tree must be growing over a life force spring.”

“You’re talking about a fountain of youth?” Ethan asked, stunned.

“Those are real?” commented Conner.

“Apparently, this one is,” Tommy replied as he watched the footage Hayley had called up on the computer screen before them.

“So that’s what kept the tree alive for so long,” guessed Kira.

“Not only that, but the sap, because it’s being nourished for years by the springs waters must have amazing powers of its own.”

“That must be what Zeltrax is after,” Jason interjected, looking to Tommy for confirmation.

“I’d be willing to bet that he’s not the only one,” Tommy replied, a grimace appearing on his face.

“So, what do we do?” asked Kira, confused.

“I guess we have to wait and see,” replied Tommy, leaving everyone concerned, before the image of the spring gave way to the site the tree had been at, and a woman came into view, headed for the hole surrounded by yellow barricades.

“Look, its Krista,” pointed out Kira as everyone’s attention turned towards the screen again.

Realizing that Krista had put herself in danger, despite his attempts to stop her, Conner started for the door, leaving everyone else speechless. Hurriedly, Tommy got up to intercept him.

“You okay?”

At Dr. O’s voice, Conner swung around and faced the older, wiser ranger.

“I don’t know. Sometimes, I wonder if I’m cut out for all this super hero stuff.”

“Still have doubts?” Tommy questioned, surprised; he’d thought Conner had gotten past this issue long ago.

“It’s just when you see someone like Krista, that believes in something so strongly that nothing can stop her… I don’t know if I have that in me. I… I’ve given up too easily. Both with my soccer, and then I almost gave up being a ranger… Maybe…”

“You crack me up.”

“What’d I say?”

“You remind me so much of myself when I was your age. I had all this ability and raw emotion but it took me a while to get the confidence to believe in myself; what I was truly capable of…”

“I’ve got confidence.”

“Confidence and cockiness are two different things. There’s a whole world that you haven’t even tapped into yet. There is something beyond Jurassic super dino mode, but you have to believe you deserve it. And when you do, you’ll be blow away by what you can do.”

Conner nodded, realizing that perhaps Dr. O had a point when the alarm started, and they both turned to race back to the main console.

“What’s up?” asked Conner nervously.

“Is it Zeltrax?” Tommy questioned, feeling Kim’s hand land on his shoulder.

“No, but it looks like some of his old friends are throwing him a welcome back party,” Jason quipped.

“We can handle the triptoids.”

“Hayley, can you stay here and let us know if Zeltrax shows up?”

As she nodded, everyone headed out, focused on just one thing: winning this one battle, and maybe along with that, the war.

-x-

“Your battleizer is really cool,” Ethan whispered to Conner as they sat at their table at the Cyberspace the following day.

Conner nodded, realizing that Dr. O, in his infinite ranger wisdom had been right. He’d been able to rescue Krista and defeat Zeltrax to retreat with his confidence in his powers and his role as a ranger.

“Well, Dr. O said I’d come into my powers once I believed in them.”

“According to Jason, that whole riff Dr. O gave you was pretty accurate. The greatest ranger ever had a confidence issue and what Kim refers to as “The Oliver Guilt Complex”, but you didn’t hear me say that.”

Laughing, Conner reached over and took a sip of his soda. The idea that Dr. O was ever in his shoes still seemed bizarre to him, but if Kim and Jason said it was true…

“And I heard that they decided against a new parking lot?” Ethan commented.

“Yeah, they planted a tree this afternoon to replace the old one. So all in all, everything worked out okay. In a hundred years, it will be back to the way it was before Zeltrax tore it up.”

Ethan nodded and when he heard his e-mail ding that he had new mail, he quickly went back to his laptop. His friend now fully re-engrossed with his computer, Conner turned his attention back to his English paper, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and looked up, expecting Kira, but was surprised to see Krista.

“Hey Krista. So, it’s really great about the new tree,” he said simply as she stood there, nervously staring at him.

“It is. I’m just glad that Randall didn’t get her way.”

“Yeah. So, is there something I can do for you?”

“I… I was thinking that maybe you might want to go to the movies… with me?” she said softly, her eyes staring at him in a nearly pleading manner.

Stunned, Conner could only stare back. The thought that she was asking him out wasn’t so much the reason for his shock, more than the fact that he didn’t know why she was asking now. Maybe his support of her tree-saving initiative had made her think he was trying to pick her up…

“Krista, I’m flattered, really…”

“But you don’t want to go out with me.”

“I’m sorry. I… I didn’t mean to give you the impression I was… well, interested,” Conner stammered as Krista stood next to him, hands wringing as she felt more embarrassed with each passing second.

“No, it’s my fault. I thought…”

“It’s not that you’re not a nice person and all, it’s just…”

“You’re still dating Kira Ford.”

Conner looked slightly surprised at that. Why wouldn’t he be ‘still’ dating Kira. Actually, if he had to be honest, when he and Kira had hooked up, the whole school seemed to know about it, and the gossip had gone on for weeks about what the jock saw in the alternative rocker chick. If things had changed between them, the whole school would have known, including Krista. But she had seemed to think they weren’t dating anymore…

“Yeah.”

“My mistake. I thought things had changed. Since they haven’t… I’ll just be on my way.”

Conner watched as Krista hurried out the door, his head spinning.

“What was that all about?” said Kira, having just come off the stage at the end of her set for the afternoon and watched Krista heading for the front door.

“That was someone who was confused about you and me,” he said, turning to Kira as she moved to his side. “So, now that this adventure’s over, how about we spend some time together. Wanna go to dinner?”

“Sounds nice, just as long as it’s someplace that isn’t going to complain if I want to eat veal or non Dolphin safe tuna. I’ve had enough of the environmentally friendly thing for one day.”

Laughing, Conner nodded and took Kira’s hand to walk them out of the Cyberspace, never even noticing the sour look on the young man behind the counter’s face as they left.


	20. Torn

“We have to do something. I know Mesogog, and he won’t put up with our defeats much longer,” insisted Elsa as she carried one of the cylinders from Mesogog’s shelves in the monster making room of the island lair to where the White Ranger clone waited for her.

“I will show him that I am a worthy soldier,” he stated simply, taking the item from her and moving around the workbench when a shock like electricity jarred him, making him drop the cylinder. “Ahh! Something’s wrong, I feel so weak. What’s happening to me?”

Elsa sighed and moved to hoist the fallen evil ranger up.

“You’re losing power. I’m not surprised really. It was only a matter of time.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When Zeltraz created you, it caused a glitch in the morphing grid. Two white rangers can’t exist simultaneously. Eventually, one has to go,” she stated matter of factly.

“Then Jason Scott must be eliminated. And the other rangers with him.”

As he staggered off, Elsa watched him, smirking slightly with the thought that perhaps he could actually accomplish his task, and thereby make her life easier.

-x-

“Come on,” Ethan said under his breath as he piloted his spaceship through the computer generated star field on his laptop as he sat at the ranger’s table at the Cyberspace.

Then suddenly, Ethan’s screen was replaced with an image of the White Ranger. And it was talking to him.

“Hello Blue Ranger,” said the streaming video.

“Okay, maybe I have been sitting too close to the screen. Jason, is that you?

“Don’t insult me. I’m the one and only White Ranger.”

“Guys, you gotta see this,” Ethan called out, rousting Conner and Kira from where they’d been on the other side of the table, working on their class work.

“I have a challenge for you and your ranger friends. Meet me at the seaside for our final battle.”

“And what if we have something better to do,” remarked Conner bitingly.

“Then the consequences will be on your head.”

With that, the video connection closed, leaving the three rangers staring at a starry screen.

“This dude never heard of e-mail,” complained Ethan as he finally got his computer screen back.

“Come on guys, let’s go.”

“What about Jason? He went back to Angel Grove for the day, something about his business…” Kira pointed out, knowing that the real White Ranger had been waiting for a rematch with the cloned ranger for weeks.

“We can take this guy ourselves.”

“Well I vote for getting Dr. O and Kim as a little back up,” Ethan stated, and Conner and Kira nodded before the three of them hurried off, Ethan snapping his laptop under his arm as they raced for the door.

In no time they had made it to Dr. O’s house and banged on the front door. Moments later, Kim swung it open and stared at them.

“Trouble?” she asked, knowing exactly what answer to expect.

-x-

Later, the five members of the ranger team in town at the time drove up to the designated spot along Reefside’s shoreline. The raptor bikes kicked up sand as they skidded to a halt in a line of color. Quickly, Conner, Kira and Ethan were off their bikes, boots in the sand.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” called Ethan.

“Are you sure this is where we’re supposed to meet him,” asked Tommy as he got off his ATV and walked towards the shoreline.

Suddenly the group was sent reeling as something with super speed whizzed around them, making them dizzy. Then as they were on the ropes, they were in pain, energy lashing in strokes across their torsos, sending them flying.

“Miss me?” asked the White Ranger clone as he stood before the rangers, who now lay in a huddled mass not twenty feet from where he’d finally stopped.

“Do you really have to ask,” snipped Kira as she pushed herself up from the sandy beach.

“Where is the White Ranger?”

“It’s already five against one. I don’t know why you’d want to make it six,” remarked Conner.

Conner’s comment seemed to anger the clone, as he pulled his dagger and pointed it at the rangers, blasting them with a surge of lighting bolts, sending them flying once again.

“I’m glad you could made it. Are you ready for the next phase?”

“Name your game,” Conner said defiantly as he and the others slowly got up again.

“My challenge, my rules. Let’s take it to the zords.”

With that, he leapt to the air, heading for the Dragozord. Before they could call their own zords, the clone had usurped the controls on the Stegosaur once again, and Kim swore.

“I really hate when he does that.”

“Shouldn’t you have the ability to block him?” asked Kira.

“The Dragozord is the dominant zord in that combo, so… no,” she said sourly, looking to Tommy. “We really need to fix that.”

“Later… right now, it looks like we have trouble.”

The five of them looked up at the combined Dino Stegazord.

“This guy doesn’t waste any time,” remarked Conner as he pulled the Shield of Triumph from its place in between space.

“Triassic power!”

“Mezodon Rover,” called Conner, as the group looked up and over to see the zord rushing towards them.

As it appeared, the three core members of the team moved to jump into the cockpit, each taking their designated spot. As soon as they were inside, Conner threw the shield down into the slot before him made of the weapon, engaging the extra power of the shield into the zord.

“Shield of Triumph, full power!”

“Mezodon Megazord!”

While the Mezodon Megazord built itself, Tommy looked to Kim briefly before Tommy turned back towards business.

“Auxilury zords, activate!”

The extra zords appeared and added onto the already impressive zord facing the White Ranger clone.

“Who’s tough now?” called out Conner as he piloted the Mezodon Megazord into battle, leaving Kim and Tommy below to watch and hope.

-x-

In Angel Grove, Jason had just finished his last meeting and was getting ready to head back to his truck for the long drive back to Reefside when his gut felt like it was on fire, and he doubled over. Pinpricks of energy danced along his nerves and he nearly collapsed, but he fought off the sensation.

When the episode seemed over, he took a deep breath and stood up straight. Something was going on, and he knew he had to get back to Reefside…now.

-x-

“I was afraid of this,” Hayley said as she turned from the console to look at the assembled rangers around her. “The white dino gem can’t sustain being cloned. The energies have to be contained by one White Ranger.”

“Well, if anyone is taking votes, mines on Jason,” said Kira.

“We need to contact him,” Tommy noted urgently. “Kim, Hayley, were you able to reach him?”

“Trini said he was already on the road,” commented Kim unhappily.

“And I tried his cell but was getting his voicemail.”

“That’s probably because I lose reception outside of Surfside,” announced Jason as he walked in, letting the others sigh slightly in relief. “So, I guess there’s something up…”

“Yeah…” began Tommy before the alarm began to sound in the command center.

Everyone looked to see a new monster heading into the downtown.

“Like that wasn’t going to happen. Let’s go guys.”

In moments, the room filled with heroes and legends was once again populated with uniformed rangers. As one, they headed for the back entrance of the cave with one thing in mind – stop the monster.

“Wait! Jason, come back!” Hayley called out.

“You go,” Jason yelled to the other before sprinting to Hayley’s side. “What?”

“I think you have other fish to fry,” she remarked, pointing to the screen where the White Ranger clone had materialized by the lake.

“I better go see what he wants,” joked Jason as he rushed out the door to meet his doppelganger.

-x-

“Hello there, fancy meeting you here,” said Jason as he arrived at the lake, moving to face his adversary. “Let me guess, you’d like to fight?”

“I’m tired of living in your shadow,” commented the ranger clone. “After this, there will only be one White Ranger.”

“Fine with me.”

“Super Dino mode!” the clone called out, his arms extending as the power filled him, his spines growing from his uniform as he fell into a fighting crouch.

Then he launched himself at Jason, and the fight was on. Jason blocked the first few blows, and then kicked high to snap the clone’s next move. Using the long blades from his super dino mode, the clone had a longer reach, and as he swiped at Jason, he quickly rolled to avoid the dark weapon. Leaping up, Jason saw the clone advancing on him, and hurriedly moved to block the next few strikes, trying to use his feet to keep the long reach of his opponent from him, but the clone slipped past his guard and struck him across the chest with the blade, sending up sparks and throwing Jason across the grass.

Without giving him a moment, the White Ranger clone was pursuing Jason, who found his footing and proceeded to block the next few strikes sent his way. Pulling his Drago dagger, Jason began to use the weapon to more easily block the blades protruding from the clones’ arms, making the fight a little more even.

Until a well placed blow knocked Jason on his ass. As he sat up slowly, he watched the clone come to a stop before him.

“You can feel it to, can’t you? Only one of us will survive.”

“I guess it’s gonna come down to who wants it more,” Jason remarked with a biting edge to his voice.

As Jason forced himself up, pulling on the reserves of his power, the clone before him cried out and fell to his knees as a backlash of power ripped through his body, dark lighting and flames surrounding him.

“Now who’s feelin’ it?”

“You wish. Yah!” the clone yelled as he rushed Jason.

Renewed, Jason used his dagger to take the fight to the clone. They fought with fists and feet, their aerial acrobatics only comparable to a high wire act as they continued to kick and punch one another. Finally Jason landed a hard roundhouse kick to the clone’s helmet, sending him reeling.

“I feel your weakness, it won’t be long now,” the clone stated, and Jason laughed.

“Better villains have tried. Come on, bring it.”

And the fight continued.

-x-

On the other front, things had see sawed back and forth. Kim had been delighted when she’d been able to wrest the controls of the Stegozord from the White Ranger clone, and when the Dragozord had flown in, she and Tommy had quickly moved to take the Dino Stegazord into the fight.

As the demorphed rangers watched Dr. O and Kim take down one of the three monsters they were facing down, they cheered.

Then when Kim and Dr. O ended up getting kicked out of their zord after a horrific assault, demorphing in the process, they were more than justly concerned.

“Dr. O, Kim,” called Conner as the group raced to the Black and Purple ranger’s spot, the teens aiding the older rangers up.

“How are we gonna defeat this thing?”

As they looked up at the looming monster, Ethan heard something approaching in the woods, and swung his head to look.

“Guys, look,” he said, focusing everyone’s attention to the White Ranger walking slowly through the forest towards them.

“It’s the White Ranger,” said Kim under her breath.

Hurriedly they swung to stand defensively in a line, waiting to see if the ranger before them was friend or foe.

“But which one is he?” asked Kira as he continued to come closer. “Jason?”

He came to a halt and moved to his morpher, “power down.”

As he demorphed, Jason gave everyone a wry smile.

“Who were you guys expecting?”

Kim and Tommy gave one another a smile and moved to greet their friend, followed by the rest of the team.

“Good timing Jase,” Tommy said as he waited for Kim to release his best friend before grasping his hand in greeting. He waited a moment to let everyone impart their welcome on Jason before focusing back on the matter at hand. “You guys ready to do this?”

Five nods met him, and Tommy smiled grimly.

They were back in it.

-x-

Later that afternoon, the team had all met back at the Cyberspace, where Jason, Kim and Tommy all lounged on the sofa at the front of the café. As the three older rangers watched, Trent moved to meet his dad, who had just come in the door, and they spoke briefly before Anton left again.

Kira moved to the counter where Trent still stood, and the two of them talked. From her spot at the couch, Kim frowned.

“What’s the matter?” Jason asked, noting Kim’s face from where he sat across the way from his friends.

“I just wish things were easier for them,” Kim commented vaguely.

“Who?” Tommy asked, confused.

“Conner and Kira.

“They’ll be fine. They don’t have the same kinds of pressures…” began Tommy, before she cut him off.

“That we had, you mean?”

Tommy grimaced at Kim’s tone and wondered if maybe she had a point that he wasn’t aware of. He looked to see where Trent had walked away from Kira, and Conner had moved to join his girlfriend, the Yellow Ranger.

“You okay?” he asked as one of the other serving staff pushed at tray full of sweet drinks and iced coffees at the two teens.

“Trent has been acting strangely,” Kira commented worriedly.

“More strangely than normal? This is the guy that tried to break us up.”

“Allegedly.”

“Where else would Krista have gotten that idea that we weren’t seeing each other anymore. And you told me yourself that he wants you…” Conner argued vehemently. “Look, if he needs help, he can come to us, Dr. O, etc. But until then, let’s leave him be.”

Kira nodded and looked up to smile at Conner before he leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips.

“Okay, enough of the PDA. I get enough of that mental scaring watching Dr. O and Kim,” spoke up Ethan as he sidled up beside the two lovers and reached past them for the tray of drinks. “Come on, drinks are on Hayley and there’s celebrating to do!”

With that, Ethan headed off to the couch, with Conner and Kira in tow to join the others in their post-win revelry.


	21. Lighting Crashes

Tommy walked towards the console in the command center. Hayley was still there, trying to figure out the computer problem that was giving her two centers of evil in California. She’d been sure that it was a glitch, but now…

“Hayley, it’s late. You should go home and get some rest,” he said as he moved to her shoulder.

“There it is again,” she said, pointing at the screen before her. “The energy is radiating from this point here.”

“Blue Bay Harbor. That’s where the Ranger Ninja school is.”

“I’ve had some correspondence with Cam Watanabe, but they discontinued the ranger program after Lothos was destroyed.”

“I hope you still have that number,” Tommy remarked with a grave voice, before turning to the stairs to go tell Kim that they weren’t going to make their movie.

-x-

“So, what’d you think?” Blake asked as he walked up the hill from the racetrack, Kira beside him and Conner and Ethan slightly behind.

“It was awesome.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Thanks for hooking us up man,” said Conner as he moved a little closer to Kira, and she smiled at him.

Caveman behavior, she thought fondly. She didn’t think he’d ever it through his head that she’d never throw him over… especially not for a traveling dirt biker.

“Hey, no problem guys. Hey, what are you doing tonight? You want to grab a bite?” asked Blake asked as he walked to the trailer where his gear was stored.

Before anyone could answer, a beeping noise cut through the air, and Blake reached into his gear to pull out something on a long cord. He studied it and then turned to Ethan, Kira and Conner with a look of concern. “I take that back. It looks like I’ll have to reschedule.”

“Is everything okay?”

“I hope so. Listen, it was really nice meeting you. I’ll see you guys later.

“That was really weird,” remarked Kira as Blake raced off.

Only seconds later, then their own communicators went off, prompting the trio to look down, and then at one another.

“Not so weird,” stated Ethan.

“Let’s go,” Conner announced, and the three hurried off for the exit and on their way to the command center.

-x-

As the team huddled around the command center console, Kim leaned over Tommy’s shoulder as he sat in one chair, Jason stood on the other, Ethan beside him. At the other chair, Hayley sat, Conner and Kira behind her. They all watched as three power rangers strode down the street, red, yellow and blue, destroying anything in their path.

“Evil power rangers? How is that even possible?” Kira asked, stunned.

Jason, Kim and Tommy shared a look…

“When isn’t it possible,” Jason said under his breath.

“God, ninja rangers? Haven’t we done this before?” asked Kim acidly as she stared at the three rangers who seemed less interested in helping people and more like they were preparing to conquer them.

“I thought we were the only ones left?”

“So did we. There’s been an evil energy surge over the last 24 hours. We think the Abyss of Evil has been opened up,” explained Hayley.

“Dr O, you think Lothor’s back?”

“Unfortunately, but there’s only one way to find out.”

“Let’s deal with these fake,” growled Conner, angrily.

“Jason, Kim and I will stay here. This is just the kind of opportunity that Mesogog might try to take advantage of.”

Conner, Kira and Ethan nodded. They were more than ready to go out there and teach those wanna-be rangers a lesson.

“You guys ready?”

“Dino Thunder, power up, ha!”

Once uniformed, they headed out into the field, prepared to take the imposters down.

-x-

Having retreated under the unexpected onslaught of the ninja storm rangers, Kira, Conner and Ethan sat in the command center, helmets off and defeated. Jason and Kim stood back as Tommy did his best to rally the younger team members.

“The important this is that you guys are alright. And that we learned something.”

“Like what it’s like getting our butts kicked,” groused Conner.

“No, that’s it’s going to take a lot more to defeat them.”

“More?”

Kim and Jason glanced at one another. It looked like they were going to be back in the field – battling evil rangers.

“Why don’t we use our dinozords and kick their ninja butts? I don’t get it,” asked Conner as he got up and stalked across the room, Kira and Ethan getting up to follow.

“I’m with Conner on this one,” Ethan remarked.

“Me too,” added Kira.

“Look, because they were people that were once good. Something has happened to them. Until we figure it out, we defend ourselves, but we don’t destroy them,” Tommy explained passionately.

“He’s right,” Kim continued. “We never give up on another ranger. Whether they’re misguided, under a spell or forced into evil’s service, we’re all part of the same ranger family. And we have to help them.”

Tommy and Jason both stood their, their thoughts on their various brushes with being ‘evil’. They had no choice… they had to do everything they could to save these rangers.

“You know, there’s something we haven’t even considered,” interjected Hayley suddenly as she got up from her seat at the far back of the cave and moved to the team.

“I’m way ahead of you… Mesogog, right?” Tommy remarked.

“What if he finds out about this? Can you image the two of them on the same side?” noted Ethan.

“My day just went from bad to worse,” Kira commented sorrowfully.

“So, what next?” Conner asked.

“We wait for them to show their hand.”

-x-

Later that day, the three teens had headed to the cyberspace for some down time. Instead of really relaxing, Ethan had started accessing the ranger database, looking for information on the Ninja Storm team. He wasn’t liking what he was finding.

“It says here the Ninja Rangers defeated 100 space mutants at one time.”

“After fighting them, I’d believe it,” Kira remarked as she leaned forward to try and peek around Ethan’s computer screen.

“Come on, they weren’t that tough. I’d fight them right here, right now,” said Conner confidently.

Suddenly the doors to the cybercafé blew in, and the three un-armored rangers strode in. Teenagers screamed and began running for the exits. Meanwhile, the three Ninja Rangers continued to stare at their dino counterparts.

With a massive blast of power from Shane, the three dino rangers jumped to either side as the table was hit, sending it flying.

“Can I get you anything? A donut, maybe a muffin?” joked Conner as he struggled to get up from where they’d been knocked to the floor, the table they’d been sitting at several yards behind them.

“No thanks. I try to stay away from sugar. It makes me hyper,” Shane stated in a deadpan voice.

“Well, I’d hate to see him when he’s hyper,” Ethan noted unhappily.

“Get up, we have some unfinished business to attend to,” demanded Tori.

At that, the Dino Thunder team got up and stood their ground. As they watched, the Ninja Storm team moved to match them, color for color.

“Dude, she’s kinda cute?” Conner asked Ethan.

“Yeah, in a crazed ninja terminator sort of way.

“Would you two focus here?” rebuked Kira, getting a smirk from Conner, that she recognized as him messing with not just here, but the other team as well.

“Can we get on with this?” asked Shane.

“We’re not going to fight you here,” Conner informed them.

“Well, we’ll just have to destroy you.”

“We’ll meet, wherever you want. But you come alone.”

“Why should we agree to that?” asked Shane.

“It’s called honor. I thought you ninjas knew all about that,” retorted Kira.

Three sets of eyes blinded by evil stared at another three sets that were

“Fine. Under the Hubble bridge in an hour. The six of us… no one else.”

Then the three Ninja Storm rangers streaked from the building, a blur of black, red, yellow and blue.

In their wake the mess of the cybercafe stood three silent figures. Until…

“Ninja streak? How cool is that?” Ethan said in an awed voice, causing Kira and Conner to turn and look at him with twin looks of disbelief.

-x-

“You can’t be serious?” Jason said as he listened to Conner explain what had happened at the cybercafe. And the deal they’d made.

“You have to let us come with you,” Kim added.

“We gave our word,” Conner remarked seriously.

“But… “ Kim started to argue, wanting to convince them…

“No, they’re right,” announced Tommy as he came to place his hands on Kim’s shoulders. “They made an honorable agreement with the Ninja Rangers. They have to go alone. However…”

“If you’re in danger of falling, we’re breaking the agreement,” insisted Jason.

“Alright. But only if…” agreed Conner reluctantly. “Anyway, it won’t come to that. We’ll beat them this time.”

Kira and Ethan looked to the Red Ranger and took a deep breath. They hoped that they all could live up to their leader’s faith in them.

With that, the three teens headed out to meet their opponents, leaving their three older counterparts to wait and watch.

-x-

The Ninja Storm team, Blake, Hunter and Cam sat with the Dino Rangers in the cave command center, Sensei with them as they explained their plan to get the original powers from the Abyss of Evil, Sensei’s timely arrival and then the plot to get the enchanted rangers to take their correct powers, breaking the evil connection with Lothor.

“Good thing you guys showed up when you did,” said Conner.

“Good thing for you guys,” retorted Shane, sending some of the Ninja Rangers into laughter.

“Whatever dude.”

“No, I’m just playin’; you guys fight like rock stars,” Shane admitted.

“I, for one will take that as a complement,” stated Kira happily.

“We’re glad you guys are all here, but its time to get down to business,” remarked Tommy as he stood beside Senei.

“Tommy is right. We have a serious problem on our hands.”

And it’s gonna take all of us to defeat him.”

The rangers, old, new; formerly retired and still new looked around at each other. This mixed team had lots of skills and lots of experience. It was just a matter of putting it to use.

There was a sudden beeping from the command console, and Hayley pulled it up for everyone to see. There were masses of both Lothor’s minions along with Mesogog’s at the quarry outside of town.

“We’ve got company,” she said breathlessly.

“It’s time. Let’s show them what teamwork is all about,” stated Tommy.

-x-

Twelve rangers stood on the hill above the forces of not one, but two evil villains. It was up to them to stop them.

“Let’s be careful, but let’s get it done,” said Tommy.

In succession, morphing calls echoed across the ridge:

“Dino Thunder, power up!”

“Purple Ranger, power up!”

“White Ranger, power up!”

“Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!”

“Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!”

“Samurai Storm, Ranger Form!"

With a series of bright flashes of light and explosions, the rangers of two teams armored up, and prepared for battle.

-x-

“I’m afraid it’s dead,” Hayley told Shane reluctantly after the teams had returned to the command center following the defeat of both Lothor and Mesogog’s forces. “Lothor’s extraction of the powers left just enough energy for one last battle.”

“Oh well, I guess it’s a good thing we’ve got you guys,” Shane said sorrowfully.

“You’ve done your part. It’s our turn to take over where you left off,” Conner said.

“One thing I just don’t understand,” said Dustin as he stalked towards Tommy.

“What’s that Dustin?”

“Who rescued Sensei?”

At that, Marah and Kapri moved to wave and get everyone’s attention.

“I think we can answer that for you,” they announced, then explained dragging him out while Lothor slept.

When they were done, the room exploded into laughter.

“What, do you guys have any idea how heavy he is?”

“Yeah Sensei, you should consider cutting down on the cookies with your afternoon tea.”

“I will keep that in mind now that I am returning to my normal life.”

“I’m all about getting back to normal,” commented Ethan.

“Yeah, but not until we get down an’ dirty!” announced Blake, prompting the younger people in the room to cheer.

The three younger members of the Dino Thunder team streamed out with the six Ninja Storm rangers, leaving Hayley and Sensei with Tommy, Kim and Jason.

“They did alright, didn’t they?” Jason semi-asked, knowing his own answer to his question.

“They did. I’m really proud of them,” replied Tommy.

“You’ve been a good mentor to them,” Sensei offered, and Tommy slightly shook his head as he caught Kim’s hand in his and laid his other hand on Jason’s shoulder.

“No,” he said thickly, “we have.”


	22. These Dreams

“So, what did you think of the movie?” Kim asked as she and Tommy walked along the street, heading back to where they’d been forced to park, on the other side of the cybercafé.

“Do I have to answer?” he demurred.

Kim’s brow raised, and Tommy leaned over to kiss her lightly on the lips. Pulling back, he watched her eyes open again, and the look returned. Sighing, he figured he better be honest.

“It was a chick flick Kim. You know I love you, but… there wasn’t a car chase or gun fight in sight for two hours.”

“Alright handsome. Next time, we’ll go see some extremely violent, macho man film.”

Her offer made him grin, and she sighed. It was a small enough price to pay. Pseudo crisis adverted, they settled into companionable silence, Kim leaning into Tommy, his arm wrapped firmly around her waist. As they walked towards the car on the other side of the promenade, they noticed the lights on inside the Cyberspace.

“Aren’t Jason and Hayley at dinner tonight?” Kim asked warily.

“Yeah… we should check it out.”

Walking through the door, unlocked even with the ‘closed’ sign up, the black and purple ranger pushed through the interior doors and found Conner, Kira and Ethan in the middle of the café. They were huddled around two tables, books, paper and Ethan’s laptop around them.

“What are you guys doing here so late?”

“Dr. O, you know I love being a ranger, but it can really put you into a crunch when it comes with homework,” Ethan explained. “This paper on primates is taking up all my free time.”

“I know what you mean. I have a ten page report on reptiles that’s due Monday.

“Well, I’ve got you guys all beat. I’m all caught up with my homework. But my mom wants me to take her Christmas shopping all weekend.

Groans filled the room in sympathy.

“Well, I suggest that everybody go home and get a good night’s sleep.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m gonna hit it.”

“Night guys,” Kim said, watching the others head out. Once they were gone, she and Tommy moved to the door, preparing to close up. “So, you tired out?”

A light appeared in Tommy’s eyes at her question, and he smirked at her.

“Wanna go home and tire each other out?”

She blushed slightly, but gave him a brilliant smile.

“That sounds like a plan.”

-x-

Across town, another pair were having a similar experience, but with less romantic banter. Jason and Hayley had been out at an Italian restaurant, attempting to have a quiet meal and socialize. But things had seemed to stall around the salad course, and by dessert, Jason had sighed and offered to escort Hayley home.

She nodded simply and once he’d paid the bill, he led her out to the car and drove her back to her apartment, his mind whirling the whole time.

They’d been seeing each other following his return from Angel Grove and the memory of his stint as the evil White Ranger had begun to fade. But things had stayed pretty firmly in the friends going out – dinner, a movie, etc. Neither had made any overture to change the status quo, and Jason was wondering if perhaps he’d been mistaken in his true feelings for the pretty techie.

That perhaps watching Kim and Tommy fall back in love had made him want something like it, and his deep friendship and respect for Hayley had been misconstrued as something else.

Of course, the fact that Hayley had been polite and undemanding had him questioning her mindset regarding their arrangement too.

So tonight he walked her to her door, said goodnight and headed back to the studio apartment he’d taken over from Kim with the intentions of sleeping on the situations.

Once back in his car, Jason wove his way across town and parked in front of the unit. Locking the car, he moved to the front door, fiddling with the sticky lock and making his way into the place. Closing up behind him, he started tossing things as he headed to the bathroom. After a quick brush of his teeth, he stripped to his shorts, sliding on his sleep pants and moving to the bed.

Settled under the covers, he closed his eyes and attempted to make himself sleep.

Little did he know that his disquiet would save everyone.

-x-

As the nightmares descended, the absurdity of the monsters for the new team made as much sense as anything – a Christmas monster attacking Conner for goodness sakes.

Nothing truly scary.

Unless you had yeas of villains, evil and fears to work off of.

Like Tommy and Kim did.

For Kim, when the nightmare took hold, the star was none other than Rita herself. For every single evil thing she’d done to her, the team, but especially Tommy, Rita had become a symbol of every fear and worry.

That her friends would be hurt; that others would be injured or die. But most of all, that Tommy would fall under Rita’s spell once again. Be evil.

Be something other than her boyfriend and team mate.

And that fear fueled her nightmare, caused Rita’s cackling voice and hordes of putties to force Kim’s mind into a corner; wanting nothing else but to run and hide, and hope that Tommy and the others were safe and coming to her aid.

Yet in her dream, she was alone.

Beside her in their bed, her white knight tossed and turned as well, unable to rescue himself, let alone his pink princess.

For when Tommy dreamed of his biggest fear, the greatest villain that had haunted his mind and left the physical and emotional scars deep upon him, it had always been Lord Zedd.

Of course, that made perfect sense… Week after week, month after month, the White Ranger had been the target of Zedd’s never ending hatred.

-x-

The sound of knocking never registered with Tommy or Kimberly. They had no idea that Jason had been pounding on the door for long minutes, wanting to talk to them about his situation with Hayley and unable to wait until morning, had come to their door, planning on annoying his oldest and dearest friends.

Instead, he heard what sounded like a terrified, muffled shriek; one that he remembered from years of being on a team with the former Pink Ranger when Kim was attacked or in trouble. And those years of being a team and a friend launched Jason into action. Without another thought, he struggled to turn up the house key Tommy had given him when it was him staying at the house and Kim at the apartment. Shoving the key into the lock, he twisted it and forced the door open with a shove, hurrying to the main bedroom.

There he found both his friends, eyes shut tightly and arms and legs flailing as if fighting agains t something. Quickly he moved to Tommy’s side, roughly taking his friend’s shoulder’s in hand and shaking him violently.

“Wake up! Come on bro, wake up!”

Tommy’s eyes flickered, and lazily opened as the spell broke and his mind cleared.

“Jase? I was having this awful nightmare…” Tommy moaned as he wiped his hands across his face.

“I get that… so is Kim,” Jason replied quickly as he moved to Kim’s side, and Tommy whipped his head around to see Jason shake Kim’s trembling, moaning form.

Again, as with Tommy, Kim slowly awoke, and recounted the fact that her dreams had been less than pleasant, and Tommy and Jason looked to one another with knowing looks.

“Do you have the kid’s home numbers? I’m not sure we can just show up or that the communicators are enough to wake them,” remarked Jason worriedly.

“In the kitchen... we should hurry.”

In a near blur, Tommy, Jason and Kim all moved for the phone book and their phones.

-x-

Once woken from their nightmares, it seemed that everyone had naturally gravitated to the basement command center. It might have had to do with not wanting to be alone, not wanting to fall asleep again or just the need to share.

For the three teens had opened up and talked about their nightmares, Conner taking more than a little ribbing over his nightmare than the others. But the Black and Purple Rangers had simply listened and consoled but not offered much of anything.

Jason watched them closely, huddled together, Kim leaning against Tommy’s shoulder and Tommy propped up against the wall. He knew that the kids had more than likely gotten off easy, based on how his friends looked.

He could only guess at what would have happened to him had he fallen asleep tonight.

“So, you guys dreamed about monsters too, right?” Ethan finally asked when he, Kira and Conner had finished their sharefest of nightmares.

“Yeah,” said Kim distractedly, rubbing her arm with one hand while the other held a cup of coffee.

“Was it boring monsters, like Conner’s Christmas monster?” asked Ethan enthusiastically.

“I still can’t believe that you dreamed about a Christmas monster,” joked Jason as he stifled a laugh, hoping to lighten the situation.

“Hey! All that shopping and stuff terrifies me!” Conner complained forcefully.

“I’m sure it was truly horrific,” soothed Kira before focusing on the two older members of the team.

Outwardly, she thought that Dr. O and Kim seemed somewhat composed. However it was little things that gave away how much this had affected them. They were both jittery, and it was obvious it wasn’t from the coffee. Kim’s hands slightly shook around her coffee cup, while Dr. O’s eyes darted between Kim and Jason, his expression harder than usual.

Of course, there was probably a really good reason for their behavior.

While she, Conner and Ethan had been rangers less than a year, Kim and Dr. O had years of experience and years of evil to have their minds feed upon… And more than likely, the spell had used all that to hit them in spades.

“Was it bad?” she asked them, stunning Tommy into looking up from his place against the wall in the command center, nearly jostling Kim from his shoulder.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” he answered dryly.

“Sure we would,” insisted Ethan, leaning forward to stare at their mentor and co-rangers.

Tommy looked to Kim and saw the same haunted look in her eyes that he was sure was in his. Neither of them really was interested in sharing…

“It was bad. And I think we can leave it at that.”

“Tommy…” Jason interjected, causing both his friends to look in his direction. “You should tell them.”

“Why? Kim asked plaintively.

“Because they need to know what could be laying in wait for them ten years down the road. And because I think you both need to get it out in the open - for your own peace of mind.”

“Really?” Tommy questioned with slight hint of a sneer that Jason dismissed as fear and anger. “Would you?”

Jason sat there and regarded the question. If he had been asleep, what would he have seen…

“I can only guess that the guest of honor in my nightmares is Goldar,” Jason said simply, bringing Kim and Tommy up short and causing the teens in the room to stare.

He looked around and decided that maybe the nightmares he’d had over the years, while not magically induced could have their exorcism here. And with it, prompt Tommy and Kim into doing the same.

“Ever since that fight in the Dark Dimension, trying to get you and the green candle out… Goldar has figured prominently in my nightmares. Sometimes instead of failing to get the candle, I fail in rescuing you. Sometimes I find you standing with Goldar, a solid, evil team I can’t beat.”

“Jason,” began Kim quietly, and Jason waved her concern aside with a slight gesture.

“And other times, I kill Goldar in my dream, heading for the candle, determined to save you. Only to turn back to the portal to find you in Goldar’s place; my sword in your chest. That’s my nightmare… sound familiar?”

Tommy’s eyes closed and his head dropped forward. Beside him, Kim shed a silent tear and caught her lower lip in her teeth. It did sound familiar. And to Kira, Conner and Ethan, the idea that Jason had shared his darkest nightmares with them, even without having been under the spell was overwhelming and frightening.

The idea that this could be their future, like he suggested was even more daunting.

“Wow Jason, that’s…” Kira stammered, completely taken aback by the White Ranger’s admission.

“It’s what it is.”

Kim turned to regard Tommy with a look of understanding. She caught his hand and squeezed it once before turning to look at the younger members of the team.

“Mine is Rita. Rita Repulsa. She was the first villain we ever faced. She was evil. Not so much in the fact that she wanted to take over Earth or destroy the rangers, but that she took such great delight at hurting us, and others. And that she hurt Tommy,” Kim ended in a whisper.

“Kim…” Tommy started, and she shook her head in response, denying his automatic habit of trying to suspend her guilt and pain.

“No, you can’t tell me that maybe it was my fault. That because I liked you, talked to you that she chose you,” Kim stated darkly. “And that there was always that fear that she could take you away again, like she did before… and I will always be frightened in a small part of my soul because of that. And I will always hate her because of that.”

Jason swallowed hard as he watched Kimberly’s eyes close and her head turn to bury into Tommy’s chest. The Black Ranger wrapped his arms around his love’s body and held her to him. In all, he wasn’t surprised. Just taken aback at how deep the scars ran.

He guessed that while the power had protected them physically, mentally…

Slowly Kim pulled slightly away, and Tommy eased up on his grip around her. Across from them, Kira found her way closer to Conner, the Red Ranger hugging her tightly against his side while Ethan frowned darkly.

The demons of being a ranger seemed to have a long shelf life.

Jason reached over and laid a hand on Kim’s, causing her to look up and smile weakly at her friend. A lot of what she’d said, she’d let on in one way or another to Jason over the years, but she’d never spoken of it out loud. And with it said… she actually did feel a bit better; a bit more free.

Tearing her eyes from her friend, she swiveled them to level onto her boyfriend, her lover and the man who she feared for in her nightmares for years. He regarded her warily, knowing her intentions with the look in her eyes.

Sighing, he let a hand run through his spiky, rumpled hair and glanced briefly at the others before resting his gaze on Kim.

“Zedd,” was all he said, and Kim closed her eyes tightly and bit back a curse.

“Lord Zedd? From the video diary?” questioned Conner suddenly. “What makes him the bad guy in your dreams? I’d think you’d have a running gallery of villains.”

“Conner…” Jason began, thinking to cut the young man off, but was stopped by Tommy.

“It’s because of all the bad guys I fought from Rita to Mesogog, Zedd has been the only one to personally target me. To attack me specifically. And to go after the ones I loved to hurt me.”

Kim gripped Tommy’s hand tightly and Kira watched the action, her memory searching for something…

Then it clicked.

“Zedd took Kim away from you,” she said softly, in startled awe.

Tommy’s eyes widened, and he quickly schooled his features. But Jason caught it.

“The draining ray,” he stated simply, and Kim’s face went pale. “Kim gave up her powers after that, and left… and then she broke up with you. You…”

“Blame Zedd for the break up? Sometimes, in a weird way. If that whole incident hadn’t happened, maybe…”

“Oh Tommy,” Kimberly murmured, and reached up to cup his cheek with a hand.

“I know it’s not rational Kim, but… everything he did to me; all the pain and suffering culminated with his hurting you and then you leaving me. So he’s always haunted me. Not just for what he’s done, but what I felt happened because of him.”

“But, isn’t he gone?” asked Ethan curiously. “I mean, all of these bad guys, you defeated them and they’re gone. Shouldn’t that mean something?”

Tommy, Kim and Jason all considered that fact seriously. It was true… the people that they feared in their dreams were gone. Destroyed in a way by Zordon’s sacrifice. Shouldn’t that knowledge that they could never hurt anyone ever again be enough to vanquish their fears and nightmares?

“Yeah, it should, and now that we’re faced with that truth… maybe it can be enough,” replied Tommy with the ghost of a smile.

“Good, ‘cause I am not wanting to carry that kinda baggage into my later post-ranger years,” stated Conner, bringing a variety of smirks and smiles at his words.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure that short term memory of yours will kick in to prevent that,” snarked Ethan, prompting Conner to glare at the Blue Ranger and stick his tongue out at him.

With the exchange, the atmosphere in the room immediately lightened, and Tommy and Kim looked to Jason with honest smiles, each reaching out to catch a hand with theirs. Friendship had beaten back the dark again, leaving the rangers to once again prepare for the next day’s battle with a lighter heart and renewed spirit.


	23. Suspicious Minds

“Okay, we’ve got Stegosaurs, Brachiosaurus and Brontosaurus, what are some other herbivores from that era?” Tommy asked as his pointer slid along the chalkboard, slicing the air as he moved to look over the class.

Silence reigned.

“Ethan, you should know this. Ethan, you all right? Could someone tell me what the problem is?”

“It’s Principal Randal. She took Devon and Ethan’s Dragon War cards,” Kira explained.

“Dragon War… isn’t that a kids game?” Tommy questioned the young black youth that had such a sharp mind that it reminded him of Hayley or Billy.

“Come on, it’s a strategy game for all ages,” complained Ethan bitterly.

“Well, I hate to side with Randal on this, but you know you can’t play cards at school.”

“Dr. O, she took the ruby dragon card!”

“Dr. Oliver, it was brutal man,” added Devon quickly, feeling slightly guilty as he had been partially responsible for the card game on school grounds in the first place…

“Alright, look, I’ll see if I can talk to her after school. Maybe I can get the cards back. Can you guys please pay attention?”

“Hey, anything for you Dr. O.”

The class slogged through another 40 minutes of science before the closing bell of the day rang though Reefside High. Tommy watched his students scoop up books to shove in bags and grab notes to cover later before heading out. Ethan gave him another pleading look as he followed Conner and Kira out the door and Tommy sighed. How did he get talked into getting ‘contraband’ from Principal Randall?

Turning towards his desk in the corner to pack up his own things, Tommy noticed Trent still in the classroom. He seemed despondent and Tommy frowned at the young Hispanic teenager who had his head lowered against his arms on the lab table.

“Something I can help you with?”

Trent’s head suddenly popped up and he realized that everyone else was gone. Then the words Dr. O had said registered him and he started to open his mouth, and then hesitated.

“It’s not really school related Dr. Oliver,” Trent hedged, and Tommy saw the discomfort on the young man’s face. Whatever it was, Trent seemed to need someone to talk to.

“Well, I think that I might be able to go outside of my comfort zone of dinosaurs and fossilized plants if you want to give it a shot…”

Another long pause filled the room, before Trent blurted out, “do you think that a good person can do bad things because they can’t help themselves?”

Tommy stood stock still, surprised at such a serious question from his student. He’d expected girl trouble or issues at the Cybercafe, but this was so much more involved than that. He wondered if he should answer; if he had an answer to give Trent. Then he mulled over the idea that he really knew more than he should about being a good person doing bad things than most.

Too many evil spells had given him a clearer understanding of that moral dilemma. And perhaps some of his observations could help here.

“While there are times that people end up doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, or because they have little choice in the matter, I would like to think that a good person could stop themselves from doing bad things…” Tommy began slowly, questioningly. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh, uh, just… curious.”

Then he hurriedly snatched up his things and bolted out the door, leaving Tommy confused once more by the average teenager. Shaking his head, he turned back to his desk to get his things together so he could get to Randall’s office, ask about the card and get home to Kim.

Once he’d stuffed his bag with the quizzes in preparation for finals in a few weeks, he threw it over his shoulder and headed for the principal’s office. Knocking lightly, he pushed the door open, expecting to find Principal Randall at her desk, with an obvious gleeful smile at the confiscation of Ethan and Devon’s cards.

Instead, he got the shock of a lifetime as the form of Randall appeared before him, back to him and glowed and flowed into that of Mesogog’s main henchwoman – Elsa.

Instantly, Tommy’s demeanor changed from school teacher to power ranger. Sliding his glasses off he walked towards her, “I knew there was something about you I didn’t like.”

“I was wondering how long I could pull this off,” Elsa said with a sigh and a smirk.

“I have to give you credit. We should have seen it. Well, it looks like it’s all over, Ms Randall.”

“It’s a shame Tommy… we could have had something,” suggested Elsa with a leer.

“Dream on,” Tommy tossed back just as Elsa leaped to the desktop to attack him.

With a round of flying fists and feet, Elsa sent a pulse through her hand, sending Tommy to the floor and changed back to her Principal Randall guise and fled.

From his position on the floor, Tommy sighed. This was not turning out to be a good day.

“Ethan,” he spoke into his communicator as he levered his shoulders up off the floor. “Get the others. I just learned something about Principal Randall that you’re not going to believe.”

-x-

There was a loud, booming knock at the front door of Tommy and Kim’s house. The urgency of it started the Purple Ranger from where she was composing with her guitar, and she laid the instrument aside as it got more insistent.

Opening the door, she found Kira, Ethan and Conner, all looking like they’d flown there, which was only really possible for one of them.

“What’s up guys?”

“Dr. O called us to say that he’d learned something about Principal Randall, and then we found them fighting on the school grounds!” Kira rushed to explain.

“Okay….”

“Then she turned into Elsa in mid somersault,” Ethan announced, cutting the others off. He was the one who had figured it out after all. “And she still had the Ruby Dragon Card!”

Kim’s eyes widened at the news about Elsa and the three teens watched as the Purple Ranger’s face went dark at this new news.

“I knew I never liked the bitch for a reason,” she swore darkly.

Kira, Ethan and Conner all flushed at Kim’s tone. She, Jason and Dr. O were the adults, but sometimes the age difference was hard to remember.

“So where’s Tommy now?”

“He said he was going to the school board to find out what they were going to do about Principal Randall now that… well, she’s a bad guy.”

Kim sighed. This was not good. With Elsa on the loose, with whatever this Ruby Dragon card that Ethan was so worried about as well, things looked like they were about to take a turn for the worse.

“Jason,” Kim spoke quickly into her communicator. “I think you need to get to the house. Now.”

Before she even finished her message, the sound of Tommy’s Jeep pulling into the driveway cut through the air. Everyone turned their eyes to the door and waited for the Black Ranger to enter.

Wearily, Tommy pushed open the slightly ajar door and looked at the people huddled around the room. The guilty, worried faces of his students were a sharp contrast to the fiery anger in his girlfriend’s eyes.

She knew.

“Kim…” he began carefully, dropping his bag to the floor by the door.

“Can I kill her now? I mean she is a bad guy now, not just a woman hitting on my boyfriend…” Kimberly said with a cold edge to her voice.

“Beautiful…”

“She was your boss, hitting on you and making you jump through hoops all this time to keep you… keep us distracted! Now that we know what she is, she’s going to pay for everything she’s done…”

“We’ll stop her and Mesogog, alright?” Tommy spoke softly, reaching forward and laying a hand on Kim’s arm. “At least we know who we’re dealing with now.”

“And what exactly would that be bro?” asked Jason as he walked through the open door.

Tommy’s eyes flew to his best friend, and Jason tapped his communicator in response to the silent question in his friend’s eyes.

“Principal Randall is Elsa,” Conner broke in, hoping to condense the discussion. “And she has Ethan’s Ruby Dragon card, which I guess would be a nasty monster, so…”

“We have our work cut out for us,” answered Jason, receiving a series of acknowledging nods and glances. “Guess it’s time to get to work.”

-x-

Once he’d made his way to the Cyberspace for his shift, Trent considered that perhaps he should have told Dr. O before he had left the classroom earlier that day; that if someone knew what had happened, that maybe they could help his dad. If he just said something…

Then, as if on cue, Kira walked in the doors; alone for a change and scanned the room until her eyes fell on him. Without another thought, she made a beeline to his side, looking at him with concern.

“Trent? Are you okay? Dr. O mentioned that you had spoken to him earlier… and he thought maybe you could use a friend.”

Trent laughed lightly before sliding the tray of clean glasses away from him and looking seriously at Kira. After all his attempts to get Kira to care about him, dump Conner and date him, her she was, checking up on him and asking if she could help.

“Do you really care? I thought you were avoiding me.”

“Look, I don’t like what you’ve done, but I’m not going to just leave you alone when you seem to need help because you’ve been a jerk.”

Trent watched her intently. Her face never changed. She still seemed genuinely concerned for him. And the fact that Dr. O had suggested she come after his conversation… maybe there was a chance to help his dad after all.

If he just could tell her.

“I asked Dr. O if someone could be good even if they do bad things. I… needed to know.”

Kira waited, confused by Trent’s random question to Dr. O and what it really meant for what was bothering him.

“I’ve been keeping this secret… I owed it to him, he’s trying to fix it…”

“Owed who? Fix what?” Kira asked, becoming increasingly confused.

“My dad… He’s…” There was a long pause, and then Trent’s face froze. The words wouldn’t come. ”Look, never mind. I’ll figure it out.”

“Trent?” asked Kira, her hands reaching over to cover Trent’s in a gesture of solidarity.

His mouth opened and closed, and then there was a beeping. Kira looked down and frowned. Her communicator was going off. Mesogog and Elsa had made their move with the Ruby Dragon finally.

“I… I’m sorry Trent, I… I have to go.”

With that, Kira rushed from the café, Trent’s eyes following her as his mind whirled. He’d made the right decision, he knew. Dr. O, Kira… no matter what, no one could help his father.

He just had to do what he could to keep Mesogog from controlling Anton as much as he could. That was the least he could try and do. Maybe he needed to spend more time with him… keep a closer eye on him. Nodding to himself, he pulled the apron off he’d been wearing and tossed it on the counter.

Hayley would have to get another employee.

-x-

The following day, battles won and Mesogog on the defensive again, Dr. O walked into the school with his students and fellow rangers. Ethan had been disturbed by this fight, what with the Ruby Dragon card he’d so desperately wanted being the monster they’d had to defeat.

“Well, have you learned something from this Ethan?” Tommy asked, looking at his young student.

“Yeah. Leave the card games at home from now on.”

“Dude, how about leaving them to the kids from now on,” suggested Conner.

“Yeah, seriously, you’re much to smart for this,” added Kira.

“You guys still don’t get it. But hey, that’s all right, I don’t expect you to understand…”

The group continued down the hallway until at an intersection they ran into Trent with his dad, Anton Mercer.

“Hey Anton,” Tommy said moving to greet his onetime boss. “How are you?”

“Tommy. I’m fine. Hey, I understand you’re looking for a new principal,” replied Anton with a handshake.

“Why? You interested?”

“I’m sure that Dr. Mercer is far too busy to run a school,” commented Kira.

“Yeah, far too busy,” parroted Ethan.

“Relax everybody, she’s right,” Anton stated just as a beep was heard from his jacket. “Oh, see, even as we speak.”

His hand dived into his jacket pocket to pull out the pager from its depths. And with it, something else came out…The Ruby Dragon cards slipped from Anton Mercer’s pocket, fluttering to the floor.

All eyes followed it.

Then all eyes landed on Mercer. Ethan looked away long enough to pick up the fallen card and as he held it, he evaluated Anton Mercer with a dark regard.

“Uh, how did you get this?” asked Ethan.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he replied as he reached for the card in Ethan’s hand. “Trent, is this yours?”

“No, I don’t know how it got there,” Trent said, his voice strained and his eyes avoiding everyone.

Then Anton listed, prompting Tommy and Trent to move to help him stay up.

“Anton. Are you all right?” asked Tommy.

Suddenly Anton pulled from Tommy’s grasp and started to fall to the floor.

“Just leave me alone,” murmured Anton.

“We should get you some help.”

“Leave me alone,” cried Anton as he rushed from the area.

Tommy followed, with the others trailing behind, even as Trent looked panic-stricken and called out to them, “leave him alone, he’ll be fine,” before rushing out after them.

The rangers followed Anton through the hallways, calling out to him until they finally found him stopped in Dr. O’s classroom. Once there, they stood in shock as Anton turned on them and in a flash of light, morphed into Mesogog. Only Trent stood without an ounce of surprise on his face; the only expression showing being remorse.

“No way! Mercer is…” Conner stated, astonished.

“Mesogog,” finished Tommy.

“Oh, this is one crazy week,” added Ethan.

Kira’s head swung to regard Trent, who she had spoken to less than 24 hours before. He had wanted to tell her something…

“This is your big secret? You knew this all along?” she asked him.

“He’s my father… how could I tell you?”

“You will pay for betraying me Trent. You will pay dearly,” Mesogog hissed, his clawed hand reaching before him to point at the young man.

“I’d never betray you!” insisted Trent.

“Silence! All of you will pay. Including you and your rangers, Oliver.”

At that, Trent’s face took on a stunned expression and his eyes glanced wildly at his teacher and fellow students. The colors, the missed meetings, the determination to help. It all made sense.

Now more than ever he was kicking himself for not saying anything to Dr. O or Kira. They were the power rangers… they could have helped…

Without any warning, Mesogog dissolved into Mercer again, and the man slumped to the floor. He slowly raised his head, his mind clearing before he gazed at his son, realizing what had been spoken.

“Trent, I’m sorry.”

Then he reached upwards, calling open an invisiportal and disappearing, leaving the rangers and Trent standing there, trying to figure out what to do next.

“Dr. Oliver…” Trent began, before Tommy cut him off.

“Not right now Trent. We all have a lot of things to discuss, and now that you know who we are… we need to ask you not to say anything. Tomorrow, after school, come to my house and we’ll discuss everything with you. But for now… go home.”

Grudgingly, he nodded and pushed through the others to the door. Once he was gone, Kira, Conner and Ethan turned to Tommy, expectantly.

“What now Dr. O?” asked Conner.

“I don’t know. Right now, I need to fill in Kim and Jason. We’ll all meet tomorrow and figure this out.”

They waited a moment longer, wondering if that was it, and when Dr. O said nothing else, they moved to the door, Conner with his arm around Kira’s shoulder and Ethan trudging behind them.

In the middle of his classroom, Tommy closed his eyes and slowly ran a hand through his spiked hair.

How was he going to tell Jason and Kim?

-x-

Tommy was sitting at the console in the command center, eyes flickering between the monitor and the door. Jason and Kim had missed the big reveal, and so he’d contacted them, requesting they meet him in the command center as soon as they could. Kim had been waiting there when he got home, and despite her repeated requests to be told what was going on, he’d asked her to wait so he could tell both her and Jason at the same time.

Finally, the White Ranger entered through the back doorway and stopped, taking in the appearances of two of his closest friends. Kim looked confused, while Tommy… the look on his face reminded him of years past when Zedd or Mondo had kicked their asses to the curb.

“Who died?” he asked, his tone grave.

“No one,” replied Tommy, his own voice thick with emotion.

“What’s going on Tommy? Ever since you called us, you seem like whatever is going on is going to be horrible.”

Tommy looked at them both again and sighed quietly. There was no more putting this off.

“Anton Mercer is Mesogog,” he finally said slowly, watching his girlfriend and best friend’s reactions.

Kim covered her mouth with her hands, stunned beyond belief.

“You’re kidding me? How did you…” questioned Jason, obviously disturbed by the news.

“We ran into Mercer at the school. He had some kind of convulsion and turned into Mesogog.”

“Is that it?” Jason inquired, noting the unchanged look on his friend’s face.

“No… Trent now knows we’re the power rangers.”

Jason’s eyes bugged out and he grappled blindly for a chair to sit before he fell down. Beside Tommy, Kimberly staggered to the seat at the console, her eyes staring at Tommy.

“Did you… I mean, how…” she began haltingly.

“Mesogog called us out. There wasn’t any way to convince Trent he’d misunderstood. So, I’ve asked him here to meet with us and the others to figure a way to defeat Mesogog. Trent knows his secrets… he has to. And now that Trent knows ours, we have no choice but to trust him to help us.”

“You really think we can do that bro?”

“I don’t think we have any other choice,” remarked Tommy solemnly. “We just have to play the hand we’ve been given. We’re power rangers… we’ll figure it out.”

Kim and Jason nodded in understanding. They’d been down and out before. At least this time, maybe they had an ally that could help them win.


	24. I’ll See it Through

Trent Fernandez approached the front door to Dr. Oliver’s house following what had to be the strangest day yet at Reefside High School. He’d gone around all day, expecting Mesogog to take his revenge at any moment. Yet at the same time, he’d almost subconsciously avoided the people who could help him if that happened.

Because he was still too distraught by the looks they had been giving him since his secret had been revealed 24 hours ago.

As it was, he’d slowly made his way to Dr. O’s so he could drag this out as long as possible. Because even though he knew that his teacher and Ethan, Kira and Conner were power rangers, he didn’t know how they were going to help him save his father.

And he wasn’t looking forward to the second round of recrimination from them all about his silence.

Finally he plucked up his courage and knocked on the door. It wasn’t long before the door swung open, revealing his teacher’s girlfriend on the other side.

“Trent, come in. Everyone’s downstairs,” Kim said as she ushered the young man through the door, closing and locking it behind him.

“Downstairs?”

Kim smiled softly, her emotions taking over as they usually did when people around her were hurting. Taking the lead, she headed to the kitchen and the open trap door. She turned and watched Trent’s confused face before waving him down.

Once Trent descended, Kim followed and nearly bumped into him as he stood at the base of the stairs, eyes bulging at the sight before him. Tommy stood before the main console, Hayley in the chair behind him. Jason was to Tommy’s right while Ethan, Kira and Conner flanked his left.

“Wow, this is…”

“Trent, you’ve kept your promise so far,” Tommy began, cutting off anything further Trent might have said, “but before we go forward, I need your strictest assurance that what you see here, what you learn here stays a secret. People’s lives depend on your silence.”

“Of course he will Dr. O,” Kira stated sincerely.

“Because we all know how good he is at keeping secrets,” tossed out Conner viciously.

“All right you guys, enough. Trent, what do you say?” asked Tommy again.

“Of course Dr. O. I wouldn’t tell anyone about this. Besides, who would believe me?”

Ethan stifled a laugh, and Jason’s glare shut him up. With the promise of secrecy, Tommy nodded to Kim, and she came up behind Trent, laying a hand on his shoulder. His head whipped around and his eyes widened again as he realized she was down here too. With a little push, Kimberly moved him to a chair and wandered over to where Jason was beside Tommy.

“So, I think probably the first course of business is introductions. Then we’ll get to the matter of Anton,” Tommy announced, looking to everyone for verification, and proceeding once he had it. “So you know myself, Kira, Conner and Ethan. And you probably have guessed our roles…”

“Once I knew you were rangers, the colors seemed to be a big giveaway,” Trent confessed.

“What is it about these damn colors?” groused Jason humorously. “You would think us needing to keep secret identities would keep us from these colors, but no… it’s like a ranger billboard. Look at me – I’m the red ranger!”

“You’re the red ranger? But I thought…”

Kim, Tommy and Jason started to laugh, the others giggling slightly. Quickly the stifled their mirth as they realized this wasn’t really the time for it.

“Sorry – old ranger joke,” Jason remarked simply. “Before Tommy gets to deep into it, I’m Jason Scott and right now I’m the White Ranger.”

“But you used to be… red?”

“Fast learner,” noted Kim as she looked to Tommy with a smile. “And I’m Kimberly Hart, the Purple Ranger.”

“Okay…” began Trent, feeling a bit more confused again. “So, Jason was a ranger before?”

“They all were,” Ethan piped up, point to the three older people, deciding to shorten the invariably long explanation that could be coming any second from one of the older rangers. “Dr. O, Kim and Jason all used to be rangers in Angel Grove back in the day. Now they’re back, and we’re rangers too. See, simple.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway Trent, that’s basically the introductions. Now we need to focus on Anton and how to stop Mesogog before he does nay more damage,” Tommy stated, bringing the conversation back to the reason for them being there.

“Yeah, is there any way we can like, capture your dad before he’s Mesogog or something?” Conner suggested.

“Or is there something you can tell us about his transformation? It looked like it wasn’t by choice,” Ethan remarked.

“I…”

“Guys! We can’t just expect Trent to hand his dad to us in handcuffs or anything…” Kira protested passionately.

“Why not?” Conner threw back. “Mesogog’s after him too.”

“Still, it’s not necessarily safe for Trent to try and capture Anton, even when he’s in his human form,” Tommy explained calmly.

“Do you want to be responsible if something happened?” Kim asked Conner, facing the young man down as the reality of his suggestion hit him in the gut.

“No, but we have the element of surprise if Trent works with us.”

There was a brief silence, and Jason shot Tommy a thoughtful gaze. Conner was right in the idea that surprise was sometimes a ranger’s greatest ally. If they could somehow have Trent help them find when he was vulnerable, the team could stop Mesogog and keep Trent from putting himself in harm’s way.

“Maybe,” murmured Tommy thoughtfully, his hand grasping his chin. “It’s up to you Trent. Is there a way you could help us surprise Anton where we could capture him so we could help him?”

Trent stared at Tommy for a long while before turning his gaze on Kira and Conner. For all his misgivings about Conner, he trusted Dr. Oliver.

“Yes.”

-x-

They had spent a good hour and beyond with Trent before Tommy had wrapped things up for the moment and sent everyone home. Jason had lingered a bit to see if Tommy had wanted to talk, but had relented when his best friend had turned to the console and started trying to calculate ways to break whatever spell or alchemy which had turned Anton into Mesogog.

Kimberly had seen Jason out; the two of them sharing a knowing look that if anyone was going to get Tommy to talk, it would be her.

Rather than push him, Kim let him work, only noting the occasional call to Hayley and one very brief attempt to contact Andros before he shut off the lights and headed upstairs. She’d put together a cold meal – sandwiches and chips, not knowing how long he would be, and they ate in companionable but still tense silence.

It was only when they headed for bed that the ice melted, and Tommy pulled her to his side of the bed as she came in from the bathroom and kissed her soundly.

“Are you going to be okay with this?” she asked quietly.

“You mean Trent knowing about us?”

“No, I mean the deal you made to try and save Anton. We both know that the likelihood of failing is there… and if we can’t rescue him, what happens to Trent?”

Tommy didn’t respond and Kim knew that this was the real reason he’d spent so long in the Command Center – looking for a way to guarantee success.

“Anton used to be a good person. Maybe we can use that to our advantage, and he can help us help him.”

“You really think that we can save him?” Kim asked as she and Tommy lay in bed, her head propped up on a hand as she looked across Tommy’s chest.

“Honestly, I just don’t know. But we have to try. You know that as well as I do Kim.”

“But it would be safer for everyone to just…”

Tommy nodded, and she didn’t finish. He knew just as well as she did that innocents needed protecting, but in this case, Anton really was innocent too. Leading them to have to try and find a way of saving him and destroying Mesogog.

Nothing like making things easy.

-x-

It had been decided after another planning session that Trent would take part of the ranger team to the house he shared with his father so they could catch him by surprise. They would render him unconscious and transport him back to the lab to find a way of ridding him of Mesogog’s personality or influence. Tommy and Kim would wait back at the Command Center while Jason went with Conner, Ethan and Kira.

So when Thursday finally came, it was with this group of rangers that Trent had gone to his house, unlocking the front door to let them in. Conner whistled slightly as they entered the showroom home and got a smack upside the head from Ethan.

“Shhh?”

“Oh.”

Without turning on the lights, the small group followed Trent through the house to his father’s study. Pushing the door open, the fading daylight of late afternoon bathed the room in a bright glow, and Trent frowned as he found the study empty.

“Nobody home?”

“I don’t get it…Usually he’s home around now…” Trent acknowledged confused.

“It’s okay. We’ll just wait. When he does come home, you need to stay behind us. You don’t have any way of protecting yourself from Mesogog.”

“But he’s never hurt me before,” Trent insisted.

“And you’ve never betrayed him before either,” remarked Jason, matter of factly.

There was a sudden silence following Jason’s words. The idea of what Mesogog would do to Trent for letting them in becoming more real than it had before.

“Are you sure we should stay?” asked Kira quietly. “Maybe it would be safer to try again another day?”

Before Jason could say anything, a familiar beeping caught everyone’s attention and he lifted his gauntlet up to his mouth.

“Yeah?”

“Jase, I think Kira may have a point,” said Tommy’s voice from the Command Center. “Let’s abort and re-consider the plan.”

“You sure bro?”

“I don’t think he’s going to show Jason. He may know Trent’s on our side now, or he may just be so far gone that the house, his humanity is gone. For now though, let’s pack it in.”

“Alright.”

With that, Jason gave everyone a look. Then his eyes settled on Trent.

“You alright staying here?”

“Yeah. I think Dr, O may be right. He might not be coming back…” Trent said, feeling miserable.

“We’re still going to help him,” Ethan assured him. “It’s just…”

“Staying here is probably a fool’s errand for the moment,” Conner added, gaining him a look of frustration from both Kira and Jason.

“Look Trent, if you need us, call Dr. O and we’ll be back. Otherwise, we’ll talk with you once we know what to do next.”

Trent nodded, acknowledging Jason’s statement and turned to lead everyone back to the front door. As he held it open, he watched as the protectors of Reefside left, and hoped that there was still a chance that his dad would be able to come back.


	25. Never Surrender

Anton Mercer hung upside down from his position, tied to the ring that spun in the center of his new prison. Then with a vicious kick, the ring spun as his captor vented his frustration and rage.

“I hope you’re comfortable Anton,” spat Mesogog as he watched the human part of himself spin wildly. “In only a few hours, all your worries will fade. To black.”

Elsa walked in to watch Mesogog’s behavior, and moved to his side as he laughed.

“The separation from Mercer was a stroke of genius master.”

“Yes Elsa, it was. Now, thanks to that genius,” Mesogog began as his attention drifted from Mercer to other matters, he moved to a table, Elsa in tow and pulled up an image of a huge weapon rising from the side of the mountain base they stood in, “the people of Earth will join me. With this weapon I will at last be able to complete my master plan.”

“Your transfiguration beam is magnificent, but will you be able to supply it with enough power?” Elsa questioned.

“Once I get the Dino Gems, I will. But to make sure, I’ll start with the power I’ve given you,” Mesogog informed her, grasping her upper arm with a clawed hand.

Suddenly, a group of TyranoDrones swept into the chamber, grabbing Elsa and dragging her backwards. Quickly they threw her into the chair centered in the room and strapped her into it. As they moved away, Mesogog came and hovered over her struggling form.

“I’ll miss you Elsa, truly I will.”

-x-

“So, let me get this straight, you’re going to the movies instead of the biggest social events of the year?” Conner asked as he and Ethan made their way into the Cyberspace.

“It’s not just a movie. It’s the sequel to “Asteroid Conquest”. The greatest sci-fi move of all time.”

“Dude, it’s the prom. It’s tradition.”

“Oh yeah, nice tradition. Smart kids spend the entire semester in agony wondering if they’ll get a date or if they’ll be forced to stand in the corner with all the other smart kids. It’s too painful bro.”

“Whoa. I never thought about it like that.”

“So, you ask Kira yet? Not like she won’t say yes…”

“Yes to what?” asked Kira as she moved to sit next to Conner, flashing him a smile.

“Uh… if you wanted to see the new romantic comedy this weekend,” forced out Conner nervously, and Ethan suppressed a laugh.

“Maybe, I’m not sure. How about we worry about it Friday?”

Before Ethan could comment, Devon appeared from the front door and made a bee line to Conner. With a friendly slap to his arm, Devon got Conner’s attention and

“Hey, Conner,” said Devon. “Got a minute?”

“Sure, what’s up Dev?”

“I just need a quick chat, uh, in private.”

“Okay.”

Kira and Ethan just watched amused as Conner followed Devon towards the bar wondering what exactly Devon needed to talk to Conner about.

-x-

“Please, don’t,” cried Elsa as she struggled against the bonds holding her to the chair in Mesogog’s lab.

“Try not to move,” Mesogog states simply as he prepared to strip her of the power within her. “Activate.”

From above a stream of energy hit her form, and Elsa writhed under the purple beam. Her cries echoed in the chamber and she writhed in agony until she simply disappeared.

“Now all I need are the dino gems, and the Earth will be mine… mine as I always dreamed it would be. And I know just how to get them…”

With that, he flipped a switch and an invisiportal appeared in the room from nowhere, and deposited an young man in a inglorious thud to the floor. Shaking himself, he looked up and gasped.

“Mesogog…” murmured Trent Fernandez, looking up at the being that shared space with his father.

“Yes.”

“Dad?”

“No, he’s not here any longer,” Mesogog noted with a toothy grin as he laid a hand to his chest.

“Where is he? Where’s my father? What have you done with him?” Trent asked, now angry.

“Let’s just say he’s in storage.”

“He’d better be alive, or…”

“Or what Trent? What will you do? Call your new friends the Dino Rangers?”

Trent’s face went white. He hadn’t realized that Mesogog knew that he’d learned who the rangers were and had tried to capture him.

“Oh, yes, I know about your deal with them… trying to rescue Anton and capture me. But you failed. And now let’s get to the reason you’re here. You’re going to get me my gems.”

“What?” Trent nearly exclaimed in shock.

“Yes, you will get me the gems and bring them back here.”

“And why should I do that?”

“Because you want your father returned to you alive,” explained Mesogog, making Trent take in a deep breath.

He was suddenly realizing that his options had dwindled to nothing. If he wanted his dad back, he had to make a deal with the devil.

“If you release my father, I’ll get you what you want… just let him go.”

“If I release him, what guarantee do I have that you will deliver on your promise?”

“What guarantee do I have that you’ll let my father go?”

“We are at an impasse. No, we will do this my way. You bring me the gems and then he’s yours. Although I don’t know why you want him. He’s as useless as Elsa is now.”

With that, Trent nodded. Mesogog reached over to him and dropped a cool, metal cylinder into his hand from his clawed one.

“Once you have them, click the button on the end and it will bring you back here. And then you can have your father.”

Then Mesogog turned and flipped the switch which had brought Trent to the lair in the first place, and sent the young traitor back to his home. Once the portal closed, Mesogog rubbed his claws together, anxiously awaiting the moment of his triumph and the new world order.

-x-

After rescuing the woman who had been Elsa from Zeltrax, the team had returned to the Command Center where Hayley was now running tests on Elsa’s more human looking form. As she did, the team hovered around, hoping for some answers, even as they speculated as to what had happened.

“So somehow Elsa got turned back to a normal person?” Kim asked confused.

“She seems to have none of the power that she had when she was Elsa,” Hayley remarked as she watched the readouts. “It’s as if she was never Mesogog’s assistant.”

“Like how she didn’t recognize us or her own name,” Kira commented.

“Exactly. I don’t see any trace of the power. It’s almost as if something stripped everything from her that was Elsa,” replied Hayley. “Tommy, what could have done this?”

Before Tommy could comment, a voice from the staircase from the kitchen cut in, “Mesogog did this to her.”

Everyone quickly turned to see Trent there, walking towards them from the shadows.

“Did we forget to lock the front door again?” Jason complained under his breath.

“Trent?” Tommy started, hoping the young man had some explanation for his assumption.

“I’m not sure why, but he took her energy.”

“To do what?” questioned Ethan.

“I don’t know. But he now wants your power gems,” Trent explained.

“Yeah, like he’s getting those,” Conner scoffed.

“No, he is. Because I’m going to give them to him.”

“I’m not going to give anyone my gem,” Conner said angrily as he moved to get into Trent’s face.

“Look, just hear me out,” Trent said, his voice raising slightly. “He’s split himself from my dad. And he’s made a deal with me that if I bring your gems, he’ll let Anton go.”

Kim, Jason and Tommy looked from Trent to one another with stricken faces. Horrible memories of the first ranger team’s parents walking in endless circles, held captive by Goldar in the Dark Dimension, forcing them to give up their coins. Tommy’s return, even though he’d lost his powers had been the only reason the team had been able to get their powers back. They had trusted in Tommy to help them.

And now it was happening again, sort of. Anton Mercer’s life rested with them and their powers.

“Trent, look, I know you want to save your dad and all, but giving Mesogog our gems isn’t going to save anyone. Once he as them, everyone will be in danger,” Jason began, hoping to get the young man to see some reason.

“Wait, Jason, it’s not really what it seems. You guys need to get on the island to stop Mesogog, and he wants me to deliver your gems. I figure that if I can get there, I can open up a portal for you. Once you get inside, you get your gems back and then you can destroy Mesogog and whatever he needs the gems for in the process, and I can rescue my father.”

“No way, it’s too risky,” Tommy began, his immediate reaction that of distrust.

“Tommy, wait… we have to help Trent save Anton. And it’s not like we haven’t done this before,” Kim commented seriously, reaching over to place her right hand over his chest to cover the spot where Tommy’s heart lay. “We have to help him.”

“Kim’s right,” Hayley added, “besides, do we really have any other choice?”

“I mean, she’s right. This could be our only shot,” noted Kira.

“Bro, what do you think?” Tommy asked as he turned to Jason.

“You know as well as I do that it’s a gamble. But Kim’s right. We have been in this situation before and we came out on top. If we don’t do this, we might be responsible for Anton being killed or worse. And if Trent really can get us a portal in… it could very well be the final strike on Mesogog that finishes him once and for all.”

Tommy nodded slightly, acknowledging the wisdom of his friends and team mates. While he didn’t like it, it was the best plan they had.

“Okay. We’re doing this then.”

Trent gave a little sigh of relief as the others looked around nervously at one another.

“So, how do we do this?” asked Ethan as he pulled his morpher away from his wrist.

“Just twist the gem from the gauntlet,” Hayley stated as she moved to one of the workstations and hauled up a small box. She handed it to Trent and the team slowly began to make their way to him, depositing their gems in it. Conner came last, placing his red dino gem in the last spot.

“This better work,” he admonished Trent as he pulled his hand away from the box.

“Look, you’ll know when the portal’s open. Just be ready.”

With that, Trent hurried back up the stairs and out of the house. Tommy took Kim’s hand and squeezed it tightly, knowing that in less than a few hours they could be involved what might be the final battle in this war.

-x-

The Massive semi had plowed through the portal Trent had promised he’d get up. And as the team fought the hordes of TyranoDrones, Hayley had used the firepower of the truck to blow up the dual cannon that Mesogog had been building to rearrange the planet to his liking. With the explosion of Mesogog’s lair, they had hurried back into the truck and were strapping in to escape.

“Good work Hayley. Now let’s go home before we’re stuck here,” said Tommy as he flopped into his seat beside her.

“But Trent,” spoke up Kira as she strapped herself in,” we can’t leave him here.”

“And what about our gems?” Jason asked.

“Trent won’t leave without his father,” Hayley replied. “And if Mesogog is gone… the gems are a small price to pay.”

“Trent’s been here before. We have to trust that he knows how to get out,” Tommy informed everyone. “We’ll have to trust that he’ll make it out. Let’s go.”

With that, everyone strapped themselves to their seats as Hayley slammed her foot on the gas pedal and raced the semi through the island roads to make it to the portal.

Moments later, they returned to the same empty mining pit they’d started off from, and as Hayley brought the truck to a halt, the team rushed out the back, looking at the portal collapsing behind them.

“Oh no…” murmured Kira as Conner wrapped an arm around her shoulders in consolation.

“Now what do we do?” asked Ethan.

“I knew we shouldn’t have left them.”

“It’s not like they’re going to fall out of the sky and land on us,” he remarked as he quickly scanned the heavens for incoming people.

“Were you knocked on the head or something?”

“Hey, the last time I did that it worked.”

Jason, Tommy and Kim began to look nervous. It was one thing for one of them to be lost. But Trent wasn’t a ranger…

Then suddenly the skies above and in front of them opened up with a small invisiportal and two figures fell to the ground.

“See!” Ethan demanded.

There were smiles all around as the team raced to meet Anton and Trent as Hayley finally exited the semi and stood on the ramp, watching the scene.

“You guys are all right,” Kira said happily as she stated the obvious.

“What about Mesogog?’ asked Tommy worriedly.

“I don’t think he made it,” Trent commented, then withdrew the silver box he’d taken hours before, “but just in case.”

He opened the box displaying the six gems within and Tommy inclined his head to acknowledge Trent being good to his word.

“What about Zeltrax? Did you see him at the lair?” Jason asked Trent, and he shook his head with a negative response.

Jason and Kim shared a worried look. Even if Mesogog was gone, Zeltrax was still formidable. It wasn’t over yet. They both turned to Tommy and he acknowledged their thoughts with a look.

“Tommy, I don’t know where to start,” began Anton, his words reflecting his true being without the influence of Mesogog.

“We’ll talk later. Right now, we better get back to the lab. We still have Zeltrax to deal with.”

-x-

In the sparking ruins of the Command Center, Zeltrax drug Elsa by the arm.

“You’re coming with me.”


	26. Higher Ground

After sending Trent and Anton to safety, the rangers had headed back to the command center to establish their next move. What they found there stunned them all. As the team descended the stairs, they found sparking wires and debris everywhere throughout the now damaged command center.

“What happened?” Kira stated aloud as she moved forward into the mess.

“It’s trashed,” Conner added somberly.

“Elsa,” remarked Tommy as he realized that their rescued former evil Mesogog henchwoman was missing from the remnants of the destroyed basement.

“Who would have…” Kim began before Conner noticed an audible sound leading to a blinking device among the cement rubble.

“What’s this?”

“It’s like a black box,” Hayley stated quickly, grabbing the device from Conner’s hands. “I keep a security camera in it.”

Moving swiftly with the box, Hayley plugged the device to a non-ruined laptop and started downloading the data. In moments, a grainy picture began to run on the laptop screen. As it began to clear, it revealed Zeltrax dragging Elsa from the command center as the place exploded around them.

“Why’d he come after her?” asked Jason, surprised and confused at one of their deadliest enemies coming into their ‘house’ just to get Elsa.

“It’s about me and Smitty,” Tommy answered confidently. “He wanted to prove to me that while Mesogog is gone, we’re still not safe.”

“So what now?” questioned Conner. “I guess we don’t hang up or morphers just yet.”

“No.”

With a determined look, Tommy took the measure of his team mates, and saw the acknowledgement within all of them that they realized that the final fight was yet to be waged.

-x-

“Thanks for saving my place,” said Ethan as he jogged back to his place in line for the best sci-fi movie sequel ever, finding the young woman who he’d met there still where he’d left her.

For a moment one of the costumed ‘fans’ gave him a look that momentarily gave Ethan pause if he’d get his spot back, but he relented, allowing Ethan to move towards his place in the line.

A crashing, rushing sound filled the air, and everyone looked up to see a huge invisiportal opening above the city center.

“Check that out,” his new friend said, unaware of the danger the rapidly expanding hole signified.

More crashes of lightning were swiftly followed by the arrival of a huge monster as it landed nearly on top of the business district, the landing sending hundreds fleeing. Suddenly the monster stretched out his arms and sent out a beam of energy, slicing a hole out of the top of a local mountain, leaving a concave shape to the skyline and sending tons of rubble and dust into the air.

Rushing away, Ethan found a corner of a building and staircase and opened up a channel to Dr. O.

“Dr. O, I found Zeltrax. And I don’t think he’s here for the double feature.”

“Ranger up. We’ll meet you there,” Tommy’s voice replied.

“Got it.”

Hurriedly, Ethan morphed and moved to find a closer vantage point to watch the new threat and wait for the rest of the team. He didn’t have to wait long.

“Check out his zord.”

“I’ll bet he’s got Elsa in there,” Conner pointed out.

“All the better to hope we won’t destroy him outright,” Jason replied.

Suddenly the courtyard the rangers were standing in was filled with Triptoids, which advanced immediately on the team. Weapons clashed as the rangers engaged, and then were thrown off their feet when Zeltrax’s zord fired bolts of green lightning into their area. Jason sailed across expanse, landing hard, Tommy and Kim right behind him. The teens ended up crashing away from them, but just as shaken up.

“This has gone far enough. Jase, can you handle the Triptoids?” Tommy asked as he levered himself up.

“Not a problem bro.”

With that, Jason launched himself into combat.

“You guys call the zords,” Tommy directed the teens. “I’m gonna get Elsa.”

“You got it,” replied Conner as he, Kira and Ethan prepared for the next level of the battle. “Dino Zords…”

The Black Ranger started to move off to locate Elsa and pull her from wherever Zeltrax had her hostage when he felt a hand land on his arm. Turning, he found the Purple Ranger’s helmet tilted up to him, and he could almost read the concern etched on Kimberly’s face beneath it.

“Tommy…” Kim started, and he briefly laid his hand on her shoulder tenderly.

“I’ll be careful.”

“I can help you…”

“No,” Tommy began, his eyes quickly darting around the battlefield. “I need you to stay with them. Guide them… I trust you to take care of them.”

Kim nodded, and tightened her clasped hand around Tommy’s arm, knowing that they couldn’t see each other’s expressions and their touch was what signaled their emotions.

“Okay. Get going!”

With a squeeze of his hand, Tommy moved off, leaping into the air and finding an opening through one of the gun ports. Slipping through the barrel, he made his way into the Zelzord.

“I’m in.”

“We’ve got your back,” Conner replied as he, Kira and Ethan stood at the helm of the Thundersaurus Megazord. Behind them, Kim stood in the cockpit as well, hoping that she might be able to provide some assistance, and if need be, call her own zord to assist.

Inside the Zelzord, Tommy called out for Elsa as he walked carefully through the misty corridors, the walls looking like nothing he’d ever seen before – red, almost living protrusions from the floor.

Suddenly, he heard a response through the fog.

“Tommy, I’m in here!”

“Hold on!” he replied quickly, and rushed towards the sound of the voice through the zord, staff preceding him.

“Tommy!” Elsa screamed again, and as Tommy continued to make his way towards her, from behind the projections from the floor, a mix of Triptoids surged forward, engaging the Black Ranger and blocking his path.

As Tommy used his staff to pummel his opponents, outside of the Zelzord, the Megazord was being struck with a bolt of green lightning that seemed to go on forever. The rangers inside staggered as their systems sputtered sparks and the Megazord threatened to topple.

“We need to help Dr. O,” Kira said as they steadied the Megazord.

All eyes turned to Kim, and she nodded. As much as Tommy felt they needed guidance, they had proven themselves capable rangers. They really didn’t need her, Jase or Tommy anymore. They could handle themselves. But Tommy did need help…

“I’m going to go help him.”

Nodding, Conner focused on the monster before him, knowing that Kira and Ethan were there, and he trusted them to back him up. Kimberly could take care of Dr. O while Jason resolved the Triptoids on the ground. They all had their parts… everyone just had to trust the others to do their part.

With that, Kim exited the Megazord and leapt across the expanse to catch hold of one of the guns Tommy had made his way into the Zelzord in. Old gymnastic skills came in handy as she flipped backwards into the barrel and slid through the metal to land inside the hulk menacing the city.

“Tommy!” Kim called out as she rolled to a landing inside the fog filled corridors.

Seconds after Kim had entered the Zelzord, it attacked the Megazord again, this time wrapping it in a rope of pure energy. Zeltrax used that energy rope to lift the Megazord off the pavement and then with a sweep of his hands, slammed them back down, rattling the buildings around its impact and shaking the rangers inside.

“Ethan, can you handle the Mezodon?” Conner questioned, knowing that they needed more firepower.

“I thought you’d never ask,” quipped Ethan in reply.

Calling the Shield of Triumph, Conner quickly handed it to Ethan, who followed Kim’s lead and exited the Megazord to land on the Mezodon Rover. Once inside, he slid the shield into place, activating his control over the zord and directing it into battle.

“Mezodon Megazord!” called out Ethan, and with that, it quickly began to alter its shape to become its own megazord that in conjunction with the Megazord Conner and Kira were in would give them a two to one advantage by increasing their firepower and capabilities.

Inside the Zelzord, Zeltrax was taken aback buy the sudden appearance of now two zords to his single one. Just then, Tommy rolled into the chamber, followed by a Triptiod. With a sweep of his staff, Tommy continued to battle the white Triptiod. Two more followed, and Tommy continued to battle with them, but out of his peripheral vision, he saw what he’d been searching for.

“Elsa!”

“Tommy!” called out the captive former villain, realizing her rescue was nearly at hand.

“I’ll be right there,” he replied cavalierly, as he dispatched another Triptiod.

“No, he won’t,” Zeltrax coldly stated as he fired a bolt of energy at Tommy.

Except for it never reached its target as the Purple Ranger came out of nowhere and deflected it, sending it bouncing through the chamber, sending white sparks through the room.

“No!” Zeltrax cried out as he pulled his sword and rushed the Purple Ranger who had foiled his plans to eliminate Tommy once again.

Outside, another bolt of green lightning enveloped the Megazord, and Kira and Conner fought to keep the zord upright.

Kim and Tommy joined forces against Zeltrax, Kim’s standard sword and Tommy’s staff crashing and parrying with Zetrax’s dark sword. With one swipe, Kim went flying, and when Tommy tried to engage by himself, Zeltrax sent him spinning as well, both Kim and Tommy landing before a bound Elsa.

“Tommy!” both Kim and Elsa cried out, as Kim reached down to aid her team mate and love.

“Maximum power!” called Zeltrax, as he stretched out his hands to pull in a new, augmenting force that lit up his armor like a spotlight. When the light dimmed, his armor had mutated, and he glared evilly at Tommy once again. “You and me Tommy.”

“Kim, get Elsa.”

With that, Tommy leapt forward as Kim blasted the restraints around Elsa.

“I gotcha,” Kim announced as she caught Elsa as she fell from the red ‘wall’ she’d been held against.

Across the room, Tommy and Zeltrax continued to strike at each other, locked in a battle that neither seemed poised to win. As Zeltrax backpedaled , Kim drew her laser gun again and sighted their enemy.

“Hey freak,” she taunted, and as Zeltrax turned, she hit him with a blaster shot.

“Guys, I’ve got Elsa. We’re coming out,” Kim told the others through the morpher/communicator.

“Go Kim!” yelled Ethan at the news.

“Let’s go,” Tommy said, coming to gather Elsa between him and Kim.

“You’re not going anywhere,” announced Zeltrax as he left forth a dark power that emanated from his zord and into the city, darkening the skies.

“What’s going on?” Ethan asked from the Mezodon zord.

“No idea,” Conner replied as he looked to Kira, who shrugged.

As the sky darkened further, new bolts of green lighting ripped through the sky to strike the zords.

“We’ve got to get them out of there,” Ethan announced as their zords buffeted about with the force of the blasts hitting them. “Now.”

With that, Ethan pushed the Mezodon zord to attack, its axes crunching into the Zelzord with a multitude of sparks.

“Ethan, hold on, I have an idea,” Conner yelled as the Mezodon zord held the Zelzord in its grip.

Conner and Kira directed the drill arm of the Megazord forwards, towards the exposed part of the Zelzord, and it pierced the skin just as Zeltrax inside was charging Tommy, Kim and Elsa. The point stopped Zeltrax in his tracks and sent him flying backwards.

“What?” Kim questioned, stunned.

“The guys,” Tommy answered in proud awe.

With Zeltrax temporarily down, Kim turned to Tommy…

“Get her out of here. With her gone…” he said quickly, and Kim understood. As much as she wanted to stay and help him, a ranger’s first priority was the safety of innocents, and Elsa qualified as that now.

With her orders and the new, bigger hole, Kim grabbed Elsa and jumped for safety.

Inside, Tommy turned to face off once again with Zeltrax, this time without Elsa as a shield. He leapt forward, striking Zeltrax with a flurry of flying kicks, sending the armored fiend backwards. He staggered up and shot a purple bolt of energy back at Tommy, who flipped out of the way. Seeing his weapon had not hit its target, Zeltrax raced to attack Tommy in close quarters combat. As Tommy fended off the assault, he tried again to reason with the cyborg.

“Smitty, stop!”

“Smitty’s gone.”

With that, the cyborg known as Zeltrax pressed his attack, his sword crashing repeatedly off of Tommy’s staff, as the Black Ranger deflected the blows. They continued to circle and attack, then backing off. In a change to that dance, as Zeltrax rushed forward, Tommy did as well, and then fell to his knees, skidding along the floor and slicing upwards across his opponent’s stomach with his weapon, sending Zeltrax flying.

“Gotta get out of here.”

The opening to his right, he quickly jumped, landing in the street below to find Kim and Elsa along with Jason, and no enemies to be seen.

“All right!” Jason said enthusiastically as his best friend appeared from the depths of the Zelzord.

“You okay?” Kim asked and Tommy nodded his head.

Then another figure dove from the Zelzord, and the rangers turned to face Zeltrax; Kim and Jason shielding Elsa as Tommy took point.

“You didn’t think I’d let you go so easily?” Zeltrax questioned as he stalked forward towards the rangers.

“Elsa, come with me,” Jason urged, and he grabbed her arm and led her out of the battle area, leaving Kim and Tommy to face Zeltrax.

“You’re going down Tommy.”

“You with me Kim?”

“Oh yeah.”

As the Zelzord still in the Mezodon zord’s grip let loose another green blast, Kim and Tommy coordinated a joint attack, leaping together and striking Zeltrax together. The dual strike was too much for him, and in a series of enveloping lightning strikes, his armor imploded, leaving only a darkened scorch mark on the pavement to show he was there.

Yet above the street, the Zelzord seemed determined to continue to strike, even with its master gone. It fired again at the zords, and Tommy realized they had to finish it once and for all.

“Conner,” he called through the communicator. “You’re going to need all the zords.”

“Right. Dino zords – full power!”

Suddenly all the zords, along with the auxiliary zords were there in the street, and with a combined golden blast of energy, they struck the Zelzord, causing it to crash to the street below.

“We did it! Yeah!” Conner yelled, reaching over to hug Kira.

Then suddenly the monster rebuilt, righting itself and returning to its position as if nothing had even happened.

“No way!”

“How?” Kira asked.

Again?” Ethan queried aloud.

Below them, Tommy realized the only course of action left to them…

“You’ve got to sacrifice the zords.”

“We can’t!” Conner cried out.

“No, Dr. Oliver…” Ethan urged.

“There has to be another way,” suggested Kira.

“There isn’t. You’ve got to. It’s the only way,” Tommy explained carefully.

“All right,” Conner acknowledged. “Engage auto destruct.”

As the zords moved in towards the Zelzord, a wind ripped around them, the team barely able to keep the main zords on their feet.

“I’m trying,” replied Ethan as the Mezodon zord fought to stay upright.

The Zelzord was pulling them in with a tractor beam like force, and the zords didn’t have the power to resist.

“Goodbye old friends,” Conner said quietly as he engaged the self destruct. With a slight turn he looked to Kira and felt the need to be sure she knew everything… just in case. “Love you.”

“Love you back,” she replied as she held on tight to the controls as the Megazord slid closer to the monster before them.

Below on the ground, Kim, Jason, Tommy and Elsa watched the impending destruction above. And yet, there was no one escaping the zords…

“Come on, get out of there…”

The zords finally succumbed to the traction just as the self destructs seemed to go off, and as the zords exploded, the sun returned.

Shouts and cries at the potential loss of the younger members of the team ripped from Tommy, Kim and Jason’s lips. The older rangers and Elsa rushed to where they were sure the zords had gone down.

“Where are they?” Kim asked as they found themselves in a ruined warehouse near where the zords should have fallen.

Then from the smoke, the unmorphed forms of Conner, Ethan and Kira were seen. Conner held his side as Kira held him close. Ethan staggered behind, and the others rushed to meet them.

Hugs and handshakes made the rounds.

“That was impressive,” said Jason admiringly.

“But the zords…” Ethan replied sadly. “They’re destroyed.”

“It was the only way. You guys did what you had to do.”

“It’s true, nothing else would have stopped him,” Jason confirmed Tommy’s statement.

“So that’s it then. It can’t just be over,” Conner argued dejectedly.

“Of course it’s not over,” rasped a voice from behind the team, and the stunned rangers turned to see Mesogog standing before them.

“Why do they always come back for more?” Tommy remarked in a amazed tone of voice.

“You’ve destroyed my plans of creating a perfect world. However I was able to absorb enough dino gem energy to complete my transfiguration. Witness the face of your final battle.”

The team and Elsa all stood stock still as bright yellow light burst from Mesogog as he grew and mutated into a huge dinosaur like creature, tripling his size as the rangers looked on.

“You better step aside Elsa,” Tommy urged, knowing that they were in for one more fight.

Understanding the danger, Elsa rushed off to hide behind some metal and cement barriers, and was surprised when she found Cassidy and Devin behind them already.

Slightly shocked sounds came from Cassidy and Elsa, but Devin was focused on the rangers.

“You guys ready for one more battle?”

“Oh yeah,” Conner replied.

With that, the team turned to their morphers, and in a series of shouts and calls, six rangers stood where mere humans had been moments before.

“This is it!” yelled Conner as they rushed Mesogog’s new form.

As they ran forward, Mesogog flung energy at them, exploding balls of fire around them. But the pushed forward, leaping into battle. Conner, Kira and Ethan struck first, and continued to sail over Mesogog’s head. Then Kim, Tommy and Jason attacked the front, and backed up as the others came up and they regrouped. Tommy, Kira and Jason all three attacked together and were pushed backwards, their bodies spinning over and over before landing on the ground.

“I’ve got him!” cried Conner as he leapt up on the armored neck of the new beast Mesogog had become and grasped the plates.

Mesogog flung him off and the rest of the team attacked, bringing Mesogog’s attention to the core group and off of just Conner.

Fists, feet and weapons attacked the monster Mesogog now was, until Ethan, Kim and Jason were struck by a series of energy bolts and went flying. Then Mesogog charged Tommy, smashing him into an abandoned car. Another bolt of energy struck Tommy, and he slowly fell to the ground.

“Dr. O!” cried Kira, as she looked up from where she and Conner had stopped after checking on Kim, Jason and Ethan. “Back off.”

Kira took up a battle position and prepared to rush him, when Mesogog shoved the car into her position, and she had to leap up to run over it and glide to where Mesogog still stood. But the crash of the car sent a fireball that caught up with her, and sent her to the ground in a heap.

Alone, Conner knew he was the last chance for the team.

“My turn,” he announced as he put himself between the others and Mesogog.

Suddenly Mesogog’s tongue whipped out and wrapped around Conner’s arm, and with a flick, it sent him tumbling in the air. Conner was able to land on his feet on another car, and backed up across the roof, the tongue still lashing at him. It surrounded his waist and he was thrown again, this time into a stack of ruble from the earlier destruction of the building.

From one side, Ethan had called his Raptor Cycle and was speeding in to charge Mesogog. He fired on him and leapt over, spinning the bike around for another pass.

“Over here Mego-mess!” yelled Conner as the Red Ranger moved to try and finish this fight. “Triassic Ranger! Battelysed Mode – engaged. Super fire power! Cannons – battle blast!”

In quick succession, Conner powered up all his available extra powers and struck Mesogog with dual, thick beams of red energy. The destructive power sent Mesogog soaring across the warehouse to finally crash into a pile of debris.

With Mesogog down, the other rangers slowly moved to Conner’s side, some battered and injured.

“You did it Conner!” Kira said happily as she nearly threw her arms around him, but didn’t as she held one arm with the other.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

A noise in the cement and barrels Mesogog had been buried by alerted them all to the reemergence of Mesogog as he laughed, shoving barrels and cement from his path.

“Unbelievable,” Tommy remarked, continually amazed by the determination of their adversaries. After all these years, they still never knew when they’d been beaten.

Then to everyone’s amazement, Mesogog stood before them and then… split himself.

“He’s replicating!” Conner cried out.

Where two had been, a second later, now four Mesogog’s stood.

“One was bad enough,” Ethan stated for all,” how do we fight them all?”

“Guys, we have to use all of our powers,” Tommy informed them gravely, “it’s the only way.”

“Right”

Kim moved to Tommy’s side, her hand falling on his arm. She knew that there was more to this than he was saying.

“If we do this, they’re gone,” Tommy said to Kim softly, so no one else could hear.

“Like I haven’t loved you without ranger powers before?” she replied honestly as she grasped his hand in hers tightly.

“You ready bro?” Tommy asked as he turned to Jason, his other hand extended to his best friend and team mate.

“Let’s do this,” replied Jason, grasping Tommy’s outstretched arm in a rough clasp. “Do it Conner!”

“I summon the power of the gem!” Conner called out.

“Dino gems, unite!”

All six ranger gem colors shot upwards, combining into a kalidescope of color. Then, a huge fiery Tyrannosaurs Rex emerged from the power of the gems, and raced forward, devouring the Mesogogs in an explosive maelstrom.

“Everyone okay?” Tommy asked as the now unmorphed rangers stood in the center of the ruined warehouse.

He expected the answer he got.

“I feel… different,” Conner replied.

“Me too,” added Kira.

“It’s gone. Our powers are gone,” Ethan realized suddenly.

“It took everything the gems had to destroy Mesogog,” Tommy explained, looking to the team in turn, his eyes finally settling on Kimberly’s.

“So these are just…” began Conner, holding his red dino gem in his hand.

“Ancient artifacts that will look great in a museum,” Tommy responded.

“Hello rangers!” announced Cassidy as she, Devin and Elsa came out from hiding.

“So you know then,” remarked Conner dryly.

“We’ll, I already sorta new, but I had to show Cassidy in person.”

“This is like the greatest thing ever,” she said before hugging Devin. “And we have it all on tape. A reporter could make an entire career out of it.”

“Cassidy, do you realize what our lives will be like if that tape gets out?” Dr. O asked her seriously.

“Yeah, I do. That’s why I’m giving it to you.”

“Wait, Cassidy giving up the scoop of a lifetime?” questioned Kira. “Why”?

“Because you’re my friends. It wouldn’t be right to ruin your lives just to make mine better. Not after everything you’ve done for us.”

“I always knew there was a heart down deep in there somewhere,” commented Ethan.

“Yeah, I just needed someone to help me find it. Now if you’ll excuse us…”

“Yeah, we’re off to the prom,” Devin announced happily.

With that, Cassidy and Devin turned and walked off arm in arm, and with a small smile, Elsa followed them, leaving the six now former rangers alone.

“Finally. I thought those two would never get together,” Kira said as she looked up at Conner.

“And just like that, everything goes back to normal,” Conner replied.

“Our life may be normal, but it will never be the same,” Tommy clarified as he put his arms over Kim and Jason’s shoulders, Kira grasping Conner’s hand as the six of them walked away from the wreckage and their lives as rangers.

-x-

“Ethan, my man,” Conner said as he and Kira strode into the prom, seeing the former Blue Ranger playing on his PSP.

Before either Kira or Conner could say a word, a pretty blond showed up with a pair of drinks, handing it to Ethan.

“Oh, hey. You must be Conner,” she said. “Ethan’s told me all about you… and you must be Kira.”

Kira smiled and gave Conner a look. The former Red Ranger had insisted that Ethan would show up alone, and yet…

“I let you go to a movie alone, and you come back with at date,” joked Conner.

“Hey, you can’t be the only one here with a rockin’ hot girl,” Ethan fired back, noting Kira’s face turn red as she blushed at the compliment.

“Hey guys,” called Trent from the balcony, bringing Conner, Kira, Ethan and his date’s eyes up to the other former members of the team, as well as Anton and Elsa.

“Hey Trent.”

“So Trent, what’s next for you?” Tommy asked.

“Actually, I’m really excited. I’m heading to art school in the fall.”

“Yeah? You okay with that Anton?”

“Couldn’t be happier. How about you Tommy. What’s next for the man who’s done it all?”

Tommy replied, “I’m thinking about staying here, teaching, living the quiet life.”

“Are you sure about that?” asked Elsa, as she moved to Anton’s left. “I hear the new principal’s a real hard-nose.”

“I think she’ll be brilliant.”

I was wondering if the new principal would save a dance for an old friend,” asked Anton.

“I’d be honored.”

Reaching down, Anton took Elsa’s hand and walked her up the steps to the top of the balcony to head down to the dance floor.

“I think that’s my cue to go down and see Hayley. I promised he a dance…” Jason said giving Tommy a look that explained all.

“I’ll come with,” remarked Trent, leaving Tommy alone.

Reaching the dance floor, Jason located Hayley, and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Want to dance?” he asked with a soft smile?”

“Sure.”

Taking her hand, he led her out on the floor, his hands taking up very polite locations as he held her. They moved with the music and Hayley watched his eyes. She knew that there was something he wanted to say, but didn’t know how.

“So, you’re heading back to Angel Grove?”

Jason was silent for a moment. Things between the two of them had simply stayed at a simmer, and he didn’t think it was any good to keep forcing the issue.

“Yeah. I think it’s time for me to go home.”

Hayley nodded, realizing that she’d been expecting this for a while. Actually, if she was honest, it had been since the day she’d called Jason for help nearly nine months ago. Jason had come here to help Tommy. Not for her. And while they’d had fun and been there for each other, things just never seemed to take off.

They were going their separate ways.

And that was okay with her.

Above in the balcony, Tommy watched his best friend and the woman who’d pushed him to get his degree dancing, knowing that Jason was leaving and whatever he and Hayley had had was over. Also on the dance floor, Conner and Kira danced together. They really made a hansome couple. And in a lot of little ways, he was reminded of him and Kim…

“Hey handsome,” said the voice belonging to the woman in question, and Tommy’s head turned and his eyes zeroed in on the body attached to the voice and took a deep breath as all the air seemed to rush from his lungs.

Kimberly stood at the top of the stairs and then began down them. She was dressed in a form fitting deep purple dress. The split up one thigh was high enough to make any man drool at the firm expanse of skin being exposed as she took the steps down towards him, not to mention the plunging neckline.

“Like anything you see?” she whispered as she finally stopped beside him.

“Everything,” he nearly growled, but forced himself to give her a polite kiss on the lips. Things were going well. They’d just started talking about long term plans; putting down roots and maybe more than that. But for tonight, they were just a couple in love.

“I was surprised to see Anton with Principal Randall,” Kim said as she laid her hand on his tux covered arm.

“Maybe there was a connection there before, or maybe it happened while they were Elsa and Mesogog. But for the moment, they seem to be okay.”

“How’s Trent?” she asked.

“Good. He seems to realize he did the right thing, even if it hurt some people that he’d lied about Mesogog for so long.”

“So, you going to stand up here all night, or come downstairs and dance with me?”

“I think I could be persuaded.”

Kim gave him a stunning smile as he held out his arm for her. Without hesitation, she looped hers around his and they made their way up the stairs. Tonight’s destination the dance and home, and tomorrow’s…

Well, that would be the next big adventure.

-End-


End file.
